Martin Staehr will join Kier from Laing O鈥橰ourke in January 2026 to succeed Stuart Togwell, who moves up to group chief executive next month 聽on the retirement of Andrew Davies.
Staehr will sit on the group鈥檚 executive committee and be responsible for the Regional Build, Strategic Projects, Kier Places and Kier Middle East (KME) businesses.
He will oversee an order book of 拢4.5bn, and a division that has approximately200 live projects at any one time across Britain.
Staehr is a chartered civil engineer and fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). He has spent the last 17 years at Laing O鈥橰ourke, most recently on its European hub executive committee as one of its delivery directors.
James Askew, Kier Construction鈥檚 commercial director, will be interim managing director of Kier Construction until Staehr鈥檚 arrival in January.
Chief executive designate Stuart Togwell said: 鈥淢artin brings fresh thinking and a drive to make a meaningful difference within the construction industry, and I am delighted he is joining us.
鈥淥ur Construction business has a strong order book and pipeline of work and, with government spending commitments, we have further opportunities for growth in our chosen sectors and through our integrated 360 approach. I am looking forward to working with Martin to drive forward our ambitions.鈥�
Martin Staehr added: 鈥淜ier has a rich history of innovation and collaboration within the UK construction industry, which I know first-hand working with the team which delivered HMP Five Wells. With a strong pipeline of work, pioneering projects and fantastic people, I believe it鈥檚 an exciting time to be joining Kier and leading the construction business in its next chapter.鈥澛犅犅�
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