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The former director of Sir Robert McAlpine鈥檚 London business who left last spring has joined regional firm EW Beard as a non-executive.

Alison Cox was among several high-profile departures at McAlpine under a rejig of the business carried out by chief executive Paul Hamer.

Cox, who first joined McAlpine in 1990 when still an engineering student, was a board member when she left last May after 18 months in the London post.

At the time, McAlpine said she was off to pursue a 鈥減assion project鈥� at Cambridge University, later revealed as bursar of St John鈥檚 College.

But she has returned to contracting as a non-executive at 拢165m turnover firm EW Beard, headquartered in Swindon and which also has offices in Oxford, Bristol and Guildford.

According to Beard, Cox鈥檚 role as a non-exec will be on 鈥減roviding guidance to and driving excellence in design management鈥�. Cox replaces Chad Murrin, who stepped down at the end of last year, and will attend all Beard鈥檚 board meetings and join the remuneration and appointments committee.

Beard chairman Mark Beard said: 鈥淗er extensive background and expertise across construction and her ability to challenge the status quo are incredibly important as we expand our regional footprint and secure projects in new sectors.鈥�

>>> See also An interview with Alison Cox, London MD of Sir Robert McAlpine

Meanwhile, Beard said that director Mike Hedges, who joined in 2015 as construction director, has been promoted to a newly created position of company operations director, overseeing all of its offices 鈥� including a planned new one on the south coast due to open in the next few weeks.

And Jamie Harwood, Beard鈥檚 director for the Swindon region, also becomes the firm鈥檚 safety director, spearheading the entire company鈥檚 safety strategy.