A trio of appointments at a steel specialist made the headlines in this week’s people moves.
Embrace Steel announced the three senior hires for two of its subsidiaries on Monday (17 February), a month after the constructional steel start-up appointed a new chief financial officer.
Richard Wigley and Ben Thomas
Richard Wigley has joined Shufflebottom (acquired by Embrace last April) as commercial and technical director.
He joins the firm after spending eight years at mailbox and parcel box manufacturer The Safety Letter Box Company.
Wigley’s CV also features a two-year stint as regional business development manager for James Hardie Building Products.
Embrace said he brings “extensive experience in stakeholder development for a multitude of steel and construction materials”.
Ben Thomas is another new appointment at Shufflebottom, as operations director. He joins from the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, where he was head of operations since January 2023.
Thomas has also held positions in the automative and aerospace sectors, as engineering manager at GE Aviation and senior area production manager at Ford Motor Company.
“Throughout his career to date, Ben has made sustained improvements in health and safety, quality and productivity,” said Embrace.
Last but not least, Chris Burns has rejoined Embrace subsidiary Hambleton Steel as design-and-build engineer.
Before returning to Hambleton following a two-year spell from 2016 to 2018, he spent six years at constructional steel contractor Severfield, most recently as design manager since November 2023.
Elsewhere this week, Persimmon Homes Cornwall & West Devon has promoted from within by naming Phil Moir as its new construction manager.
Moir steps up from his previous role as contracts manager at the housebuilder. He joined the company last April.
His CV also includes two years at Vistry, three at Linden Homes and seven at electrical and solar power contractor Clarkson Evans.
Matt Crimes
Public sector procurement body Scape announced it has hired Matt Crimes as business development director “as part of its long-term business growth strategy”.
Crimes previously spent 10 years as associate director of business development at consultancy Turner & Townsend, where he was responsible for regional UK growth.
In his new role, he will work closely with deputy chief executive Caroline Compton-James and group chief executive Mark Robinson to expand Scape’s framework capabilities.
Gemma Prior
In the consultancy world, Egis subsidiary Thomas & Adamson has appointed Gemma Prior as director and head of cost management for its London office.
Prior brings over two decades of experience in consultancy, most recently as a partner at Rider Levett Bucknall, where she was also national deputy head of education.
Her CV also includes spells at Aecom and Currie & Brown.
Thomas & Adamson said Prior will focus on the residential build-to-rent and commercial office workplace and conversion sectors.
“Key projects already on Gemma’s agenda include a prestigious high-end residential development and large-scale facade remediation framework for a UK-wide housebuilder,” the firm added.
