Our leadership

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Meet our leadership team and discover more about their role, responsibilities and careers to date.

Executive Directors

Stuart Togwell

Chief Executive

Stuart Togwell

Chief Executive

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.

Tom Hinton

Chief Financial Officer

Tom Hinton

Chief Financial Officer

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.

Non-Executive Directors

E Environmental, Social and Governance Committee
N Nomination Committee
R Remuneration Committee
RA Risk Management and Audit Committee
Chair

Matthew Lester

Chairman

Matthew Lester

Chairman

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.

Chris Browne OBE

Senior Independent Director

Chris Browne OBE

Senior Independent Director

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.

Alison Atkinson FREng, MICE CEng

Independent Non-Executive Director

Alison Atkinson FREng, MICE CEng

Independent Non-Executive Director

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).

Anne Baldock

Independent Non-Executive Director

Anne Baldock

Independent Non-Executive Director

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.

Margaret Hassall

Independent Non-Executive Director

Margaret Hassall

Independent Non-Executive Director

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.

Mohammed Saddiq

Independent Non-Executive Director

Mohammed Saddiq

Independent Non-Executive Director

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.

Clive Watson

Independent Non-Executive Director

Clive Watson

Independent Non-Executive Director

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.

Stuart Togwell

Chief Executive

Stuart Togwell

Chief Executive

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.

Tom Hinton

Chief Financial Officer

Tom Hinton

Chief Financial Officer

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

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

Louisa Finlay

Chief People Officer & Chief Operating Officer

Louisa Finlay

Chief People Officer & Chief Operating Officer

Louisa was appointed chief people officer in March 2023, following more than 30 years of continual service with Kier.

Before becoming chief people officer, Louisa worked in various national, regional and sector roles across our Construction and Infrastructure business, including as managing director of clients & markets and Kier Construction Southern.

In January 2026, she was appointed as chief operating officer, a newly created role on our executive committee, which is responsible for health, safety & wellbeing, sustainability, our corporate real estate (offices) and IT. Louisa will hand over the chief people officer role in 2026, following a thorough recruitment process.

Louisa started her career as a trainee engineer on a sandwich degree. She is a member of both the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Construction and Property Industry Mentoring Circle.

Sophie Timms

Corporate Affairs Director

Sophie Timms

Corporate Affairs Director

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 Askew

Group Commercial Director

James Askew

Group Commercial Director

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 Milne

General Counsel

Stephen Milne

General Counsel

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 Incutti

Group Managing Director, Infrastructure

Joe Incutti

Group Managing Director, Infrastructure

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 Staehr

Group Managing Director, Construction

Martin Staehr

Group Managing Director, Construction

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 Thomas

Group Managing Director, Property

Leigh Thomas

Group Managing Director, Property

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.

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