Move will see creation of new Northern region and disappearance of standalone South-east arm
Bam is restructuring its 1,100-strong construction business in England, cutting back the number of regions from seven to five with the firm saying the move will lead to job losses.
The biggest change will see the North-east, based in Leeds, and North-west, based across the Pennines in Manchester close to the Old Trafford football ground, merged into one Northern region.
This will be put under the leadership of John Phillips, currently in charge of the North-east business and who succeeded Bam Construct’s boss James Wimpenny when he was promoted to the executive board.
The North-west has been led by Ian Fleming for the past six years, having first joined the company in 2000.
The South-east region is being merged across Bam’s London, Western and Midlands regions with the latter renamed Central and headed by current South-east boss Adam Harding.
The disappearance of the South-east region, which is based at Bam’s headquarters in Hemel Hempstead, is likely to mean that London, led by Rod Stiles, and Western, based in Bristol and led by Tim Chell, will become bigger regions.
Bam said the move will result in “a small number of redundancies” but declined to say how many with speculation it could be around 30. The firm added: “Where possible we are seeking alternative internal roles.”
Explaining the rejig, Wimpenny, executive director construction, Bam UK & Ireland, said: “Like most companies we are constantly reviewing our structure and how we operate in line with best practice and market conditions.”
Meanwhile, Building understands Bam is no longer in the frame for the delayed Gateshead Arena scheme.
Bam had taken over the job, then given a £260m price tag, from Sir Robert McAlpine more than 18 months ago.
But rising costs have meant the scheme has been stalled with an original opening date of 2024 now being replaced by a series of staggered completion times with the 12,500 arena not expected to finish until 2027.
The scheme is being developed by the local council and Ask Real Estate with costs now expected to be around £350m.
A 344-bed hotel is the first part of the development set to open, with this given an opening date of autumn 2025.
No comments yet