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SNC-Lavalin poaches Balfour Beatty exec to be new global project boss

To cut construction risk, Canadian contractor SNC-Lavalin has created a new, global "Project Oversight" office, and has appointed a long-serving Balfour Beatty executive to lead it.

Most recently executive director of Balfour Beatty-owned Gammon Construction Limited in Hong Kong, Nigel W.M. White will start on 1 August as SNC-Lavalin’s executive vice-president for project oversight, based in London, UK.

Nigel W.M. White will start on 1 August, 2019 (Linkedin)

Reporting to the company’s new interim president and chief executive, Ian L. Edwards, White’s job will be to "drive project consistency and assess risk", the company said.

He joins at a difficult time for Canada’s biggest construction firm, as it faces a landmark corruption trial on 28 June, and in May it said it would pull out of 15 countries and avoid lump-sum EPC projects after making a net loss of US$13m in the first quarter of 2019.

"This new role will be integral to ensuring we meet our project delivery and execution across all our operations," said Ian L. Edwards. "It will drive consistency, assess risk for the company and help us fulfil clients’ expectations in a profitable manner."

White has 32 years of experience in managing all aspects of civil, building, foundation and electrical and mechanical contracts in Hong Kong, UK and the US.

He was eight years at Gammon, before which he spent more than 20 years at the UK’s biggest contractor, Balfour Beatty, in a variety of senior positions.

He has a BSc in Quantity Surveying from the University of Central England and is Fellow of the chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Member of the Royal Institute of Surveyors.

Top image: One of SNC-Lavalin’s recent major projects, the Cerrejon Mining Complex Expansion in Colombia (SNC-Lavalin)

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