McAlpine’s former London deputy joins McLaren to head newly created CM business

Sir Robert McAlpine’s former deputy managing director for its London business is teaming up with his old boss to head up a newly created construction management division at McLaren.

Vince Lydon will join up with Paul Heather at the near £1bn turnover firm nearly 18 months after he left McAlpine.

At the time, McAlpine said Lydon, who was second in command to Heather at McAlpine’s London business before Heather left three years ago, was taking early retirement.

But he has now been appointed managing director of its construction management and specialist projects division and will focus on large scale real estate and public sector projects.

Heather said: “A new division focused on large scale projects and programmes will see us develop our capabilities in construction management and adapt to an evolving market.

“Quality of construction and stable profitability continue to be two of our highest priorities and with Vince Lydon at the helm of the new division in addition to our existing senior team we will quickly expand into delivering more of the largest and most exciting projects across the UK.”

The firm’s executive chairman Kevin Taylor added that the new business will “respond to increasing demand for our services and mobilise all our teams for a resurgence in sectors such as residential development”.

>>See also: ‘Perfect, see you Monday’ … McLaren’s Paul Heather on tier ones and being headhunted on holiday

>>See also: How Sir Robert McAlpine introduced flexible working to construction sites

Lydon spent 15 years at Bovis, later Lendlease, where he led major projects for BAA, Stanhope and the Crown Estate, and worked on delivery of the £1.1bn Olympic athletes’ village before leaving for Balfour Beatty in 2012. He joined McAlpine three years later.

He is the latest high-profile former McAlpine director to join McLaren with its previous London commercial director Paul Spiller arriving last November to become group commercial director.