Carillion battles to stop rot by hiring ex-defence chief

Struggling building giant Carillion has named Andrew Davies, former boss at BAE Systems, as its new chief executive in a bid to turn the group around.

Davies will take over from Keith Cochrane on April 2, Carillion said, putting an end to Cochrane’s interim leadership since the company issued a surprise profit warning in July.

The housebuilding and construction firm issued a second profit warning in September after writing off £845 million in under-performing contracts, axing its dividend and putting parts of the business up for sale.

Davies will join Carillion from Wates Group, a construction firm, where he is chief executive. He also has a non-executive director role at defence company Chemring.

He faces the tough job of executing a strategic review of the company, and considering the possibility of a share placement with investors.Philip Green, Carillion chairman, said: “Andrew has the ideal combination of commerciality, operational expertise and relevant sector experience to lead the ongoing transformation of the business.”

Shares in Carillion are down 80% on the year but rose 2.8%, or 1.25p, to 45.50p after the announcement.