Global engineering firm makes director appointments
Two staff from Arup’s Nottingham office have been appointed as directors of the global engineering firm.
Steve Fernandez and Vicky Evans are just the second and third members of the Nottingham team to have both been promoted to one of the firm’s highest positions.
Between them, the pair have worked on major local, national and international projects, including the shopping and food destination Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, the St Pancras Chambers development in London, the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre near Loughborough, and the Government’s £3.6bn Towns Fund.
Neil Harrison, associate director at Arup, said: “We are absolutely delighted that both Steve and Vicky have been promoted to director– a huge boost for us in the region and indicative of the hard work and expertise they put into the business.
“The interview process for the role is extremely rigorous, and for the Nottingham office to have two directors appointed is a huge achievement. We’re very proud of the work we do from Nottingham – we’ve been here for 30 years, we’ve got more than 100 staff based in the city centre and we are highly committed to the city.”
Fernandez joined Arup as a graduate in 1999, working in Sheffield, London, Doha and Moscow and is now based in the Nottingham office.
He is recognised internationally as an expert in his fields, leading the firm’s civil and structural engineering team across the Midlands, and is the building retrofit leader across the UK, Middle East, Africa and India.
He has designed and delivered a variety of iconic buildings and structures, ranging from a new school in Loughborough, the transformation of the listed Newton and Arkwright buildings at Nottingham Trent University, a 60,000-seat football stadium in the Middle East, a state-of-the-art research and university campus in Moscow, and a timber pavilion inspired by school children which was on display in Old Market Square in Nottingham.
Chartered town planner Evans joined Arup in London in March 2006 and since then has also worked for the company in South Africa, Dubai and the Seychelles. Having studied geography at the University of Nottingham, she decided to move back to the city in 2015.
A specialist in housing, strategy, policy and economic development, Evans works across all aspects of the built environment at a regional and national level. She also leads the residential business for Arup across the UK, Middle East, India and Africa.
As well as her work on the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall, Evans has been working with the government on the Towns Fund, which is investing billions in UK towns as part of the levelling up agenda. She oversaw the development of 26 town investment plans in the Midlands and East region.
She was also involved in the establishment of the East Midlands Development Corporation, set up to create new employment and housing opportunities across three key sites at Toton, Ratcliffe-on-Soar and East Midlands Airport.
