Leo Quinn, who began his career in 1979 as a civil engineer at now-struggling U.K. construction services giant Balfour Beatty, will return to the firm as CEO in January. The global contractor announced his appointment on Oct. 15, five months after the departure of Andrew McNaughton. Quinn, who will replace Executive Chairman Steve Marshall in the CEO role, joins the contractor after five profit warnings in the past two years and some analyst speculation over whether, before the leadership change is effective, company stockholders should approve its sale of Parsons Brinckerhoff to Montreal-based giant WSP Global. That deal, announced in early September, is set for a shareholder vote on Oct. 28. In its latest profit warning on Sept. 29, Balfour Beatty also said it had hired consultant KPMG to do a review by year-end of its U.K. construction contracts. Quinn was group CEO of QinetiQ Group plc, a $2.5-billion U.K. defense and security contractor that he is credited with turning around, since 2008."The building blocks are there to give Balfour Beatty's people the success they deserve, and I am keen to work with them to create something significant and lasting," Quinn said.
Walter M. Sanders has been elevated to president of Day & Zimmermann NPS, the power maintenance contracting unit of Philadelphia-based Day & Zimmermann Group Inc. He joined the firm in 2011 as senior vice president of operations, from a previous role as senior vice president for power construction operations at The Shaw Group Inc.