Amec announced on Wednesday that director Peter Janson had resigned as chief executive of Amec Inc, the contractor's Americas arm, and from the group's main board. He will remain as non-executive chairman of Amec Inc until August.
Janson had been chairman and chief executive of Canadian engineer Agra, which was bought by Amec for 拢221m in April 2000, and joined Amec's main board after the deal. He was paid 拢469,000 last year.
Mason said Amec Inc was facing new management challenges and he now planned to work more closely with Roddy Grant, the Amec Inc's chief operating officer and president.
An Amec spokesperson said: "Sir Peter is taking a greater interest in the affairs over there and will have a more hands-on involvement."
Janson's departure came after a cost-reduction programme led to cuts in management.
"Amec has wanted to get rid of some management layers and cut overheads for some time. Perhaps Janson wasn't doing that quickly enough and Mason now wants to handle it," said John Carnegie, construction analyst at Schroder Salomon Smith Barney.
Mason will take on executive responsibility for Amec Inc until a replacement for Janson has been appointed.
Janson's resignation shocked the City and led to speculation that Amec's Americas business may be hitting problems. "If things are going smoothly, sudden departures don't tend to happen," said an analyst. "There must have been a row and we'll be looking at the results later in the year."
Concerns have been raised that Mason's concentration on the Americas may force him to neglect Amec's operations elsewhere.
The spokesperson rejected these fears, saying: "Sir Peter will naturally be spending more time over there but he's good at this sort of thing and knows where he wants the business to go."
The Americas contributed 29%, or 拢1.31bn, to Amec's turnover of 拢4.47bn last year.
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