Our leadership

Appointed to the Board as an executive director with effect from 1 October 2024 and as chief executive from 1 November 2025 and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Stuart is a people and customer-focused leader, delivering major construction, infrastructure and development projects for more than 30 years. He has a deep-rooted knowledge of the sector, working with central government, local authorities, registered providers and arm’s length bodies, notably supporting the creation of the Construction Playbook. His wealth of experience means Stuart is well-placed to enable Kier to support the ambitions set out in the UK Government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy. He also has a strong track record of business transformation, shaping Kier’s corporate strategy, and leading and growing Kier’s Construction business and market positions in public and private sector. He was formerly group managing director, Construction and group commercial director at Kier, and group commercial director at Wates Group Limited. He is a chartered surveyor. 

Appointed to the Board as chief financial officer Designate on 26 August 2019 and as chief financial officer on 27 September 2019, and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Simon has a broad range of financial, strategic and IT leadership experience in his former senior roles in the engineering and manufacturing industries.  With significant experience in the implementation of cost reduction, M&A and profitability improvement programmes, Simon has the financial expertise to help Kier continue to improve its financial performance. From 2013 to 31 July 2019, Simon was Group finance director at RPC Group plc. Prior to this, he was chief financial officer, Europe and also chief strategic officer at IAC Group, where he worked from 2006 to 2012.  Simon is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Simon is an independent non-executive director, Chair of the Audit Committee, and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees of Mpac Group plc.

Matthew Lester was appointed to the Board as non-executive chairman on 1 January 2020 and was independent on appointment. He is the chairman of the Nomination Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.

With substantial strategic and financial experience, through senior finance roles at Diageo plc, as Group finance director of ICAP plc and as chief financial officer of Royal Mail plc, Matthew provides effective leadership to the Board in support of delivering the Group’s strategic priorities.

He has significant non-executive director experience from former appointments with Man Group plc, Barclays PLC and Capita plc. He is a chartered accountant.

Matthew is a non-executive director and chair of the Audit Committee of Intermediate Capital Group plc and non-executive chairman of Czarnikow Group Limited.

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 15 September 2022 and senior independent non-executive director on 1 October 2024.

Chris has experience of the construction sector through her former role as a non-executive director of Vistry Group PLC. 

With significant commercial and operational experience through senior leadership positions within the aviation industry, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Board and the role of senior independent director. She was most recently chief operating officer of easyJet plc, where she also separately served as its non-executive director. She served as a non-executive director of Norwegian Air Shuttle AS and as a non-executive director of Constellium SE.

Chris has a Doctorate of Science (Honorary) for Leadership in Management from the University of Ulster, a Doctorate of Science (Honorary) in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Aviation Travel Industry from Cranfield University and a Doctorate of Science in Economics (Honorary) from the Queen’s University of Belfast. She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to aviation.

She is currently the senior independent director of C&C Group plc and a non-executive director of AGS Airports Limited. 

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director in December 2020.

Alison brings significant operational experience of project development and delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects in public and private sectors through her roles as Chief Projects & Development Officer at Anglo American plc and Chief Executive Officer at AWE plc, and at Halcrow. From her in-depth experience of oversight of civil engineering and contracting, safety, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability matters, Alison is well positioned to help progress Kier’s ESG agenda. She is a chartered civil engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. 

Alison is currently a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Anglo American plc as Chief Projects & Development Officer, and a director of De Beers plc (a subsidiary of Anglo American plc).  

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 1 July 2025.

Anne’s substantial experience in the infrastructure sector, from her executive career as a lawyer at Allen & Overy LLP, where she was a partner from 1990 to 2012, and from her later non-executive roles for a variety of companies operating in our sector, such as energy, nuclear and water, is of great value to Kier and enhances the sector experience of the Board. She brings broad experience of business operations and of driving growth, new ways of working and culture change, particularly from her roles at Allen & Overy as Global Head of the Projects, Energy and Infrastructure Group and as a member of the Global/Main Strategic Board. 

Anne is currently the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Pantheon Infrastructure plc, the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Investment Committee of East West Railway Company Limited, and a non-executive director of The Royal Mint.

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 5 April 2023.

With extensive experience of remuneration matters through her current and former appointments as chair of remuneration committees, Margaret brings strong and effective leadership to the Remuneration Committee. She is an experienced non-executive director from past appointments at Phoenix Group, Tandem Bank, Nucleus Financial Group plc and One Savings Bank plc. Margaret has broad experience in business operations, technology and large transformational change developed through senior positions across a range of different industry sectors. 

She is currently a non-executive director, chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Risk and Compliance and Nomination Committees of AJ Bell plc. 

Appointed to the Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2024.

Having in-depth knowledge and experience in operational delivery, engineering and infrastructure services through his previous roles in senior management and engineering positions in the water, waste and renewables sectors and from his current Non-Executive Director appointment at Bazalgette Tunnel Limited (the company delivering the Thames Tideway Tunnel project), Mohammed is of great value to the Board, particularly as the water sector is important to Kier’s growth agenda. He was an Executive Director at Wessex Water and Vice-Chair at Bristol University until 2022.

Mohammed is an Associate Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, and a Chartered Member of the Institution of Environmental Sciences. In 2020, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of England for enhancing the sustainable development of Bristol. 

Mohammed is currently a non-executive director of Bazalgette Tunnel Limited, Chair of Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership CIC, Chair of Bristol Future Talent Partnership CIC, and is Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Somerset. 

Appointed to the Board as an independent non-executive director on 30 March 2020.

Clive's significant experience in financial matters, through senior finance positions both in the UK and overseas, latterly as the Group finance director of Spectris plc, brings depth to the Board’s oversight of Kier’s financial governance and risk management.

He has experience of the engineering sector through his roles at Borealis AG and Spectris plc, and as a non-executive director of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc. He has detailed knowledge of systems of risk management and internal control, and is a chartered accountant.

Clive is currently the senior independent director and chair of the Audit Committee of Breedon Group plc, non-executive director and chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of discoverIE Group plc and senior independent director and chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Trifast plc.