As firm eyes 2024 float, Seamus French says changes will cut costs and simplify governance

Incoming Laing O鈥橰ourke chief executive Seamus French has stripped out several trading names at the UK business and streamlined it into five legal entities.

French said the move will cut administration costs and simplify the reporting structure of the UK business.

French, who is managing director of O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 Europe hub, which includes its UK, Canada and Middle East businesses, said: 鈥淭his much simpler corporate structure is a positive move for the business and all our stakeholders.

Laing ORourke

O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 offsite Explore business will be one of five operating businesses under a streamlined reporting structure

鈥淭he restructure will simplify our financial reporting process and ensure we can run our corporate structure more efficiently, allowing management to focus their time on running the core trading companies that will drive the growth of the business.鈥�

The firm鈥檚 UK businesses have previously filed individual sets of results at Companies House with the biggest, Laing O鈥橰ourke plc, including its construction, manufacturing and plant hire work.

O鈥橰ourke said five operating businesses (see box) will now report into Laing O鈥橰ourke Holdings.

鈥� Laing O鈥橰ourke Delivery, which will comprise the 黑洞社区s and Infrastructure trading businesses;

鈥� Explore 2050 Engineering, comprised of Expanded, the specialist civils and structures business, and Crown House Technologies, the specialist MEP business;

鈥� Explore 2050 Manufacturing, which will include Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 two UK manufacturing facilities 鈥� Explore Manufacturing in Nottinghamshire and CHt Manufacturing in the West Midlands 鈥� and well as geotechnical business Expanded Piling, and specialist stone contractor Vetter;

鈥� Select Plant Hire remains a standalone trading business for cranes, plant and equipment; and

鈥� Laing O鈥橰ourke Services, made up of employment entities, as well as specialist digital design and recruitment businesses

The firm said the changes will not impact the leadership teams of any of Laing O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 specialist trading entities.

Madeleina Loughrey-Grant, the firm鈥檚 group director of legal, added: 鈥淭hese structural changes represent another step forward in our governance journey, making compliance and governance simpler and streamlining further our corporate governance and ESG reporting.鈥�

seamus french

Seamus French (right) will replace Ray O鈥橰ourke as chief executive at the end of the summer

Last summer, founder and chief executive Ray O鈥橰ourke said the firm was planning a stock exchange listing by 2024, bringing to an end more than 40 years of family control.

O鈥橰ourke founded R O鈥橰ourke & Son in 1977 as a concrete subcontractor but broke through into the main contracting market in 2001 when it caused shockwaves in the industry by snapping up Laing Construction from John Laing for 拢1, later changing the name to Laing O鈥橰ourke.

French is due to take over from O鈥橰ourke as chief executive of the country鈥檚 biggest private contractor at the end of the summer.

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