Balfour Beatty names Leo Quinn new chief executive

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Balfour Beatty has appointed a new chief executive just weeks after fending off a takeover by rival Carillion.

Leo Quinn is poised to join in January after five years as group chief executive of defence research firm QinetiQ, following four years as the boss of banknote printer De La Rue.

Quinn will replace executive chairman Steve Marshall and will have a £800,000 basic salary.

He began his career at Balfour Beatty in 1979 as a civil engineer in the UK construction services business.

Balfour fended off Carillion’s lengthy takeover attempts despite the merger gaining the support of most shareholders.

It has issued five profit warnings in two years as it attempts to turnaround.

Quinn said: “Balfour Beatty is a world-leading brand with world-leading talent. Having started my career there, I am very proud to be rejoining a company so ingrained in British engineering, and am resolute in my ambition to realise its enormous potential for customers, employees and investors.

“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.”