Andrew Davies (businessman)
Andrew Oswell Bede Davies (born October 1963)[1] is a British businessman, and CEO of Kier Group.
Early career
[edit]Educated at the University of Sheffield, Davies joined BAE Systems in 1985.[2] At the company he became Managing Director Land Systems in 2004, Group Strategy Director in 2008 and Managing Director Maritime in 2011.[3]
He went on to be CEO of Wates Group in 2014[4] and was appointed CEO designate of Carillion in October 2017.[5] Originally scheduled to join the financially troubled business in April 2018, Carillion announced in December 2017 that it had brought forward his start date to 22 January 2018.[6] However, Carillion went into liquidation one week before he was due to take up his post.[7]
During 2018, Davies continued as a non-executive director of aerospace and defence contractor Chemring, and also walked several long-distance paths including the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path.[8]
Kier Group
[edit]In January 2019, after turning down job offers elsewhere,[8] Davies was linked with the vacant CEO post at the similarly financially troubled Kier Group,[9] officially confirmed on 19 March 2019,[10] with Davies taking up the post on 15 April 2019,[11] when he announced a strategic review of the group's structure.[12] He later said Kier "was fundamentally a very strong operational company but had lost their way strategically and had taken a number of missteps which had proved, frankly, catastrophic."[8]
Less than two months later, on 3 June 2019, Kier issued a profit warning[13] causing its share price to fall over 40%,[14] and the fall continued on 14 June after reports that Kier would sell its housebuilding division.[15] On 17 June, Davies confirmed the housing division sale, plans to exit other markets, and 1,200 job cuts.[16] Kier's share price fell 17% to 108p, a level not seen since the company's 1996 flotation,[17] and its shares were subject to renewed 'shorting' with one analyst saying "every time Andrew Davies opens his mouth [Kier’s] shares seem to dive by 18% and the consensus in the market is that Kier will go bust."[18]
At the group's AGM in November 2019, shareholders objected to Davies's £2.6m annual remuneration package and an associated long-term incentive scheme.[19]
References
[edit]- ^ "Andrew Oswell Bede DAVIES". Companies House. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Profile: the new CEO of Carillion, Andrew Davies". Constructing Global. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "All change at the top for BAE Systems". Portsmouth News. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Wates names new chief executive". Construction Index. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ "Carillion picks new chief executive to lead its rebuild". FT. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ Torrance, Jack (20 December 2017). "Troubled Carillion brings forward appointment of chief executive". Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Carillion to go into liquidation". BBC News. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ a b c Rogers, Dave (19 July 2021). "Kier chief says writing was on wall for Carillion weeks before it went bust". Building. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ "Kier chief ousted". The Construction Index. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ Kleinman, Mark (18 March 2019). "Embattled Kier picks chief left stranded by Carillion collapse". Sky News. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
- ^ Maatouk, Michele (19 March 2019). "Kier appoints Andrew Davies as new CEO". Sharecast. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Morby, Aaron (15 April 2019). "New Kier chief sets out to streamline £4bn group". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ Prior, Grant (3 June 2019). "Kier in profit warning as problems spread to building division". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- ^ Karunaratne, Nilushi (5 June 2019). "Kier woes point to restructuring". Investors Chronicle. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Hickey, Shane (14 June 2019). "Kier shares plunge on report it wants to sell housing division". Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ^ Prior, Grant (17 June 2019). "Kier cutting 1,200 jobs and selling housing arm". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ Kollewe, Julia; Davies, Rob (17 June 2019). "Kier Group to cut 1,200 jobs in attempt to avoid collapse". Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ Ing, Will (21 June 2019). "Asset managers up bets against Kier share price". Building. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
- ^ Morby, Aaron (16 November 2019). "Kier suffers shareholder revolt over chief's pay". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 18 November 2019.