Appointment of Paul Sheffield to succeed John Dodds not seen as 鈥榤ajor departure鈥� for contractor
The City has welcomed the appointment of Paul Sheffield to the chief executive鈥檚 job at Kier and said it did not expect a major break with the past.
The 26-year Kier veteran was announced as the 拢2.1bn-turnover group鈥檚 new boss last week, replacing John Dodds, 64, who will retire next March.
An analyst at Numis Securities described it as 鈥渁 logical choice鈥�. 鈥淗e is not well known to the City, but we hold him in high regard. We don鈥檛 expect this appointment to lead to a major departure from current strategy.鈥�
Another analyst said: 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see there being anything radical on the cards, given that he has achieved this role with the tacit help of John Dodds.鈥�
Meanwhile, colleagues in the industry have described Sheffield as 鈥渁ffable鈥� and 鈥渉ands-on鈥�.
Speaking after his appointment last week, Sheffield, 48, described Dodds as 鈥渁 hard act to follow鈥� and 鈥渁 very influential figure鈥�.
Despite that, he promised to stamp his own mark on the role. He said: 鈥淛ohn has run the business very successfully for five years, but I鈥檒l do it with relish and we鈥檙e different people.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚 will bring a passion for the business and an inclusive style of management.鈥�
He declined to reveal any more details about how his leadership would change the way Kier operates until he takes over next April.
It is understood that Sheffield beat Ian Lawson, head of the company鈥檚 support services arm, to the post, although he declined to comment on the process.
The Papua connection
Sheffield鈥檚 first job was as a site engineer on a gold mine development in Papua New Guinea for Bechtel in 1983. He would have been the first friendly face Dodds saw when he flew in to oversee the project as a contracts manager. 鈥淚t was a very challenging project in a very challenging location,鈥� said Sheffield.
He was mentored by Dodds in the following years.
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