Firm creates new post of digital and data head

McLaren has brought in a former Laing O’Rourke digital bigwig to head up its digital and data business.

James Eaton joins from Sir Robert McAlpine and started work last week, reuniting with his former boss at the London division of McAlpine, Paul Heather.

Eaton was head of digital and data at McAlpine having been brought in by Heather initially as a consultant.

james eaton

James Eaton started his new role at McLaren last week after three years at McAlpine

He will reprise the same role at McLaren, which has created the position for Eaton who cut his teeth in contracting at O’Rourke where he worked for close to nine years after switching from a career in banking.

He was O’Rourke’s global head of digital engineering before leaving to set up his own business in 2016.

Heather said: “We want to turn live project data into something our customers can use. With the Building Safety Bill in mind, we want our customers to see quality of installation and demonstrate competency. This role is really going to help that.”

Eaton is initially joining the firm on an 18 month contract as a consultant from data firm Acumine.

McLaren, which employs around 800 people and is expecting to see turnover in the year to last month top £700m, has also brought in another former McAlpine staffer to head up its talent management, inclusion and diversity team.

Tracie Rolleston-Judd was a senior HR business partner at the firm for four years and before that spent more than five years in a similar role at Skanska.

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