黑洞社区

Incoming Balfour Beatty chief executive Leo Quinn has pledged to take 鈥渂old鈥� and 鈥渂rave鈥� decisions to 鈥渞estore Balfour Beatty to its rightful place on the global stage鈥�.

In a letter to the firm鈥檚 40,000 staff Quinn summarised what his approach would be when managing the firm. The letter, seen by 黑洞社区, follows the announcement of Quinn鈥檚 appointment by Balfour Beatty this morning.

Quinn is currently chief executive of listed defence technology contractor Qinetiq, and will join Balfour Beatty from January 1 next year.

Quinn said he would 鈥渋nvest for growth beyond the near and now鈥� and 鈥渇ocus on our strengths, our customers and the longer term鈥�.

He said he 鈥渧alued candour and transparency鈥�, which he said was 鈥減ivotal鈥� to the firm鈥檚 success and urged staff to send him feedback on the firm鈥檚 direction to 鈥渉old me accountable to the strategy I set in place鈥�.

Quinn acknowledged that the firm had suffered 鈥渕ajor setbacks recently鈥� with a string of profit warnings. He said: 鈥淭his is a tough time, even for those not directly affected, and I want to get it behind us.鈥�

Quinn added: 鈥淭oo much time is spent looking over shoulders (and under feet) and generally this is not helpful. We must learn from past mistakes, but not stagnate or become paralysed.

鈥淥ur task is clear. The first priority is to deal with the present and deliver on today鈥檚 promises. Second, we must look forward and make sure that we are the supplier of choice for the next job.鈥�

He said: 鈥淢y commitment to you is this: I will restore Balfour Beatty to its rightful place on the global stage and do this company of people proud.鈥�

The appointment is seen as key for Balfour Beatty which has gone through a turbulent few years, which have seen it issue multiple profit warnings, the departure of two chief executives and the impending departure of executive chairman Steve Marshall.

Educated at Imperial College, London and Portsmouth University, Quinn holds an MSc in Management Science and a BSc in Civil Engineering. He began his career at Balfour Beatty in 1979 as a civil engineer in the UK construction services business.

Prior to working at Qinetiq, Quinn was chief executive of banknote publisher De La Rue from 2004-2008, and has spent time in senior roles at technology firms Honeywell and Invensys.

Steve Marshall said he was 鈥渄elighted鈥� to welcome Quinn to Balfour Beatty, and that he had the 鈥渄epth and breadth of experience鈥� to turn the company around. 鈥淟eo is an outstanding individual with an excellent track record in improving the performance of major international businesses. I am confident that Balfour Beatty will thrive under Leo鈥檚 leadership,鈥� he said.