2013 saw several high-profile appointments. Here鈥檚 a rundown of some of the best

Mark Reynolds

Mark Reynolds

WKK

In September Tom Wright, the architect responsible for the famous sail-like design of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, left Atkins along with two other colleagues in order to form WKK. Wright intends to take the fledgling firm into direct competition with high-end international giants HOK and Populous, as well as his former employer.

Alinea

Alinea Consulting went live in May, launched and fully funded by six former partners of EC Harris and Davis Langdon. Focusing on construction cost consultancy, they stated the company鈥檚 aim was 鈥渢o be the best鈥�.

Mark Reynolds, Mace

On 1 January Mark Reynolds took over from Stephen Pycroft as chief executive of Mace. Reynolds stated in September that the firm plans to boost turnover to 拢2bn by 2020 and grow its consultancy business into an 拢800m-turnover operation.

Anna Stewart, Laing O鈥橰ourke

Anna Stewart took over as chief executive of the UK鈥檚 largest private contractor in April, replacing Ray O鈥橰ourke, who remains as chairman. Stewart, who had formerly been the firm鈥檚 chief financial and commercial officer, is only the second chief executive the company has had since it was founded in 1978.

Andy Rose, Homes and Communities Agency

The HCA picked a former Treasury man to be its new boss following Pat Ritchie鈥檚 departure of in November 2012. Rose has years of experience in public private partnerships and infrastructure financing.

Richard Marchant, Capita

Marchant was made chief executive of the firm鈥檚 property and infrastructure business as part of a restructure that included dropping the Capita Symonds brand. Marchant assumed the role in an interim capacity from February, after incumbent chief executive Jonathan Goring was moved aside to work on the consultant鈥檚 bid to take control of the former Defence Estates business from the Ministry of Defence. Marchant was confirmed in the role in June.

Ian Sutcliffe, Countryside

Sutcliffe鈥檚 appointment as executive chair of the housebuilder in July followed the firm鈥檚 purchase by US fund manager Oaktree in February. Sutcliffe was a senior director at George Wimpey before and during the merger with Taylor Woodrow, and was subsequently chief executive of Keepmoat during its merger with Apollo, leaving after just nine months in 2012.

2013 was host to some spectacular successes. You can see our rundown of the year , and our top 10 rundown of the best . Alternatively, you can have a look at what we consider the biggest of the year鈥�

It was a dramatic year for others. It wouldn鈥檛 be Christmas without some in the industry. We said to some. There were some high-profile step-downs; we round up the highlights with our feature.

And of course, it wouldn鈥檛 be Christmas without 鈥� Some of the best presents are in our list here, but of course there鈥檚 the odd 鈥�

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