Ian P. Tyler, a chartered accountant who now runs London-based contractor Balfour Beatty plc, admits to “never being good” at the accounting business. But the company’s CEO is much better at the numbers game than he lets on, having propelled it in the last decade to become a diversified and profitable construction industry player.
With the $626-million addition of professional services heavyweight Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), New York City, in 2009, the firm now aims to expand its global footprint and capitalize on its resources. The combination already is generating a new competitive force, as the firms work to take advantage of what each has gained in more than a century of operation and to bridge cultural differences quickly amid growing market pressures.