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I鈥檓 not going to give you the names because you鈥檒l publish it and I鈥檒l have the bloody headhunters nicking my top people.鈥� Kier chief executive Andrew Davies has not spent the past two-and-a-bit years rebuilding a business that was at one stage talked about as the next Carillion only to see staff picked off by rivals.

Google Kier and among the most-typed questions in the search engine are: 鈥淚s Kier going under?鈥� and 鈥淎re Kier in trouble?鈥� If he had his way, Davies would no doubt add 鈥渘ot any more鈥� where, after the past couple of months, the feeling is that a corner has once and for all been turned.

The names he won鈥檛 reveal are those of the people who helped to stitch together the deal with the private equity business run by financier Guy Hands which paid 拢110m for Kier Living in April, the housing business that has since been renamed Tilia Homes. Davies himself took a backseat role, signing it all off of course, but for the most part the deal on Kier鈥檚 side was led by his chief financial officer Simon Kesterton and 鈥渁 very talented person in the organisation who鈥檚 really experienced in M&A鈥�.

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