People: Senior appointment at Mace; Board appointment at SCX; and more

Consultancy and construction company Mace has appointed former Jaguar Land Rover senior executive Colin Harvey to lead its property consultancy business in the North and Scotland.

Harvey will hold responsibility at Mace for strategic and operational management of a property team of nearly 100, based across Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Hull and Edinburgh. He most recently worked as Jaguar Land Rover’s Head of Property Programmes Delivery, where he led a team responsible for designing, procuring and delivering a portfolio in excess of £1bn worth of property and infrastructure assets across the world.

With more than 30 years of experience working in the construction sector, Harvey has had a vibrant career working for companies such as John Laing Construction and Bovis. His experience on the consultancy side of construction has also taken him to Capita where he led a number of business units both in the North and nationally.

This appointment comes at a time when Northern Cities are being encouraged to grow and develop – with the backing of major initiatives and bodies such as the National Infrastructure Assessment, the National Transforming Cities Fund, and Transport for the North.

Harvey said: “I’ve watched the growth and development of Mace with admiration since the business was first established by some of my former Bovis colleagues many years ago. I can relate to the can-do attitude and the client-centric culture that has been adopted by Mace and helped to develop an impressive portfolio of significant projects throughout the country and around the world.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back to work in the North and helping the well-established team to enhance their presence even further across the region. With the Northern Powerhouse still acting as an important catalyst for significant growth in public and private capital projects, it’s a very exciting time to be back in the North.”

Mark Holmes, Chief Operating Officer for Consultancy at Mace, said:  “This appointment adds great strength to our highly regarded team in the North. Colin has had an impressive career and has built an exceptional reputation in the British construction industry.”

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Sheffield-based SCX group has appointed Nigel Montgomery as Operations Director and board director.

He has made the step up after six years’ service as Electrical Controls and Instrumentation Director for SCX Special Projects, SCX’s bespoke engineering division, playing a key role in the development of complex automated control systems for large-scale moving structures.

SCX Special Projects is known around the world as a result of the sliding roof at the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s Centre Court, its work on a similar roof for No.1 Court, due to be operational next year, and the world-first dividing retractable pitch at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium.

Montgomery’s connection with SCX goes back to 2006, in his role as Sales Director for Fairfield Controls. He worked alongside SCX on the pioneering retractable roof over Centre Court at Wimbledon, an iconic moving structure that celebrates its tenth anniversary next summer.

The connection grew stronger as the two companies continued to collaborate, focusing on complex systems integration programmes in nuclear, defence and moving structures.

Nigel became a familiar face at SCX’s headquarters in Roman Ridge Road – and he eventually joined the group in October 2012. Today, thanks to Nigel’s direction, the team is 17-strong, with an exceptional staff retention rate.

Nigel began his career as an apprentice with British Steel, becoming a process control technician at Templeborough, Rotherham, and eventually heading the Process Control & Electrical Department.

When the Templeborough plant closed, he joined Fairfield Controls, increasingly involved in the designing and selling of control and automation solution, where he worked on massive moving structures such as Tower Bridge, the Thames Barrier, the London Eye and the Falkirk Wheel.

His new role means stepping away from the day-to-day engineering detail of to ensure SCX Special Projects can deliver exceptional quality across the board. He will look at supply chains, training and personal development, and quality to help the company deliver projects to a growing list of blue-chip clients and to reduce reliance on external contractors.

Nigel said: “There are three things that I still get that buzz from – the intellectual challenge of controlling huge moving structures; the bespoke engineering needed to do this that no-one else has done before; and doing both of these while maximising the safety of these ground-breaking mechanisms. The challenge is considerable, but I’m very much looking forward to it!”