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. Stuart was appointed as Deputy Co-Chair of the Construction Leadership Council in July 2026 and is a chartered surveyor.

Appointed to the Board as chief financial officer on 1 January 2026 and is a member of the Executive Committee.

Tom has extensive financial and corporate experience from his former senior roles within supply chain logistics supporting the retail, building supply, energy infrastructure and defence sectors, as well as previous roles in the renewable energy and insurance sectors.

With significant experience in financial strategy, cost management and capital allocation, he brings his expertise to drive further improvements in Kier’s financial performance and deliver sustainable growth.

Most recently, Tom was interim chief executive officer at Wincanton (now part of GXO), having served as its chief financial officer since 2022. He was group chief financial officer at WE Soda Limited; prior to which, he held group chief financial officer roles at Domestic and General Ltd and Infinis Energy plc.

Tom is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Louisa Finlay was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) in January 2026, a newly created role on Kier’s executive committee. She is responsible for digital transformation and IT, health, safety and wellbeing, sustainability, corporate real estate, product excellence, all functions which support how Kier works safely, sustainably and effectively for its customers, its people and other key stakeholders.

Louisa has more than 35 years’ experience with Kier. She began her career as a trainee engineer on a sandwich degree and has since held a range of national, regional and sector roles, delivering major infrastructure projects, including the Stirling Prize-winning Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge.

Before becoming COO, Louisa was appointed chief people officer in March 2023 and joined Kier’s executive committee. During this time, Louisa has overseen the increase in the Group’s engagement scores, enabled hundreds of colleagues to participate in its industry leading and award winning talent development programmes and helped strengthen routes into the industry, through its early careers and inclusion programmes.

Louisa is a member of the Chartered Institute of Building and has been recognised with a lifetime achievement award at the European Women in Construction & Engineering Awards.

Niki Steel is chief human resources officer at Kier Group, responsible for leading the Group's people strategy, organisational development, culture and talent agenda.

She joined in August 2026, bringing more than 20 years' experience in people leadership, culture transformation across a range of international businesses and sectors.

Before joining Kier, Niki was chief people officer for sector operations at IMI, the FTSE 100 engineering company, and has also held senior leadership roles with organisations including Pearson plc and Dyson.

Niki’s career spans engineering, home technology, digital education, media and visual effects industries, giving her broad experience of leading people and organisational change in complex, fast-paced environments.

As CHRO, Niki is passionate about creating high-performing, inclusive cultures where people can thrive, develop and achieve their potential.

Sophie is corporate affairs director at Kier and was appointed to our executive committee in May 2021.

Sophie’s role is to manage the Group’s reputation, engage with our key stakeholders and oversee all communications, marketing and brand activity. She is responsible for our customer first approach and leads our engagement with local communities. She has introduced new digital ways of working, accessibility tools and an all-employee app to provide fast, data driven and equitable ways to engage with Kier.

Prior to this role, Sophie was the Group’s public affairs director and before joining Kier she spent over 20 years in UK and international public affairs and communications roles at Zurich Insurance as well as working in the policy unit at the Federation of Small Businesses.

In 2019, Sophie was awarded Freedom of the City of London for services to diversity. She is a member the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, a member of the Social Mobility Commission's Employer Advisory Group and a member of the Impact Evaluation Standards Board, which sets the metrics for measuring social value.

James is our Group commercial director and is responsible for driving performance, consistency, and leveraging our scale across our commercial, procurement, clients & markets, and preconstruction functions.
 
Since joining Kier in April 2022, he has played a pivotal role in transforming how the Group works together, harnessing the scale, skill and capabilities as part of our 360 approach, with cross-divisional approach to winning and delivering work.
 
Prior to this role, James was interim Group managing director of our Construction business division and was our national commercial director in our Construction business.
 
Before joining Kier, James worked at Wates for 28 years where he held numerous roles, with the last five years as the company’s national commercial director.  
 
James is a quantity surveyor and a Member of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS). 

Stephen joined the Executive Committee as General Counsel in December 2024, after more than eight years at Kier.

In his role, he has responsibility for legal, compliance, and company secretariat functions.

After qualifying as a solicitor in 2008 Stephen spent eight years in private practice at Beale & Company LLP, specialising in construction and insurance matters for companies across the built environment, before joining Kier.

During his time at Kier he has supported the Group’s international and UK infrastructure businesses, before becoming Group Head of Legal in 2021. From February 2022 until his appointment as General Counsel, he was Group Legal & Compliance Director.

Joe is group managing director of our Infrastructure business division. The division designs, builds and maintains the infrastructure that connects people and keeps services running, spanning several sectors including road, rail, aviation, ports, water, environment, energy and nuclear.  Amassing over 20 years’ experience in the sector while working for Kier, Joe joined Kier as a finance director, before moving into the Group managing director role in 2019, initially for Highways, then Transportation before taking on the role across the Infrastructure division.

Before joining Kier, Joe worked in a variety of sectors including banking, manufacturing, defence and the NHS.

He is a chartered accountant, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation, and a founding member of the Highways Sector Council.

Martin is Group managing director of our Construction business, which comprises both regional and large-scale strategic projects, together with property management and building solutions through Kier Places, and Kier Mechanical & Electrical (KME). The business delivers schools, hospitals, prisons and defence estate optimisation, as well as commercial, residential and heritage buildings for local authorities, government departments, and the private sector. 

Martin joined Kier and our Executive Committee in January 2026. 

Prior to joining Kier, Martin worked at Laing O’Rourke for 17 years where he held numerous roles, latterly as one of its delivery directors on the company’s European hub executive committee responsible for construction projects in sectors including justice, defence, education, health, and science in the UK.  

Martin is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Chartered Member of the Engineering Council, and a Member of the Institute of Directors. 

Leigh joined Kier Property in 2005, was appointed managing director for Kier Property in 2015 and became a member of the Group Executive Committee in 2018.

Alongside this role, Leigh also sits on the Group’s investment committee and is a trustee of the Kier Pension Board. 

Before joining Kier, Leigh worked for companies including Courage Brewery, Bass Plc, KFC and Vigers in property development and property consultancy roles throughout the UK, Hong Kong and South Korea.