Leadership

Sir John Parker, Chair of Laing O'Rourke, has built up an enviable reputation across a range of industrial sectors as a leader in the boardroom, including Chair at five FTSE100 companies. As former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a visiting Fellow at Oxford University, he takes a keen interest in the development of engineering technology and talent, a core value of Laing O'Rourke's global business.

Sir John, Ray O'Rourke and the Group Executives' focus is on making Laing O'Rourke the recognised leader for innovation and excellence in the construction industry.

Major Shareholder and founder of the Laing O’Rourke Group. He chairs the Group Executive Committee and is responsible for leading the strategic direction and operational management of the Group’s business activities. Ray founded R O’Rourke & Son in 1977, and commenced trading the following year. The business acquired the construction arm of John Laing PLC in 2001, and with the acquisition of Barclay Mowlem in 2006, created today’s extended international engineering and construction group.

Ray has a passion for developing and promoting engineering and project delivery talent to meet global construction challenges, and has a keen focus on safety performance.

Shareholder and co-founding director of the Laing O’Rourke Group. Des provides Board-level support to the Chair and Chief Executive in the operational management of the Group’s business activities. Des has a proven track record in project delivery, mobilising large teams of people onto complex projects around the world.

Rowan joined Laing O’Rourke in September 2020 as the company’s global Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Rowan also sits on the company’s Group Executive Committee and Corporation Board.

An experienced finance executive, Rowan joined Laing O’Rourke from McCarthy & Stone plc, where she held the role of Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining MCCarthy & Stone in 2012, she worked in finance for Barclays Bank plc and professional services for PwC.

During her most recent role, she has also gained extensive experience of the construction sector and the challenges it faces to improve productivity, deliver greater certainty for clients and overcome a long-standing skills shortage.

Rowan has a masters degree in Law from Cambridge University and is a qualified accountant (FCA) and chartered tax adviser.

Jim joined the Group in January 2018. He is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and a former joint senior partner of a major London law firm with responsibilities for strategy, thought leadership, nurturing of client relationships and business development. Jim also specialised in advising on corporate structures, succession planning
and the application of proper administration and corporate governance in the context of directorships and trusteeships.

Rebecca Hanley has served on Laing O’Rourke’s Group Executive Committee since June 2018 and in April 2022 was appointed Managing Director for the business’s Australian operations.

Prior to this appointment Rebecca served as Group Director for Strategy and Transformation, where she was instrumental in shaping the Group’s Deliver 2025 global strategy focused on innovation and excellence.

Within the Laing O’Rourke Group, Rebecca has also held executive accountability for the Technology and Innovation Group where she reinvigorated the company’s portfolio and commercialisation strategy.

She has also been deeply engaged in shaping the company’s Executive Development Program – bringing the science of excellence and performance into the organisation’s operations as well as the company’s advanced manufacturing strategy, data transformation and financial turnaround initiatives.

Rebecca previously worked in strategy for Anglo American plc and in financial leadership positions, including for PricewaterhouseCoopers in both the UK and Australia. She is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA from INSEAD in Paris.

Laing O’Rourke appointed Dr Hayaatun Sillem, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, to its Board as a non executive director in March 2022.

Dr Sillem has been named as one of the ‘Inspiring 50 Women in Tech’ and one of the most influential women in engineering.

She chairs the UK government’s Business Innovation Forum and the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment, and co-chaired Sir Lewis Hamilton’s Commission on Black Representation in motorsport.

Charlotte was appointed to the Board as an independent Non Executive Director in March 2018. Charlotte has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial industry and has held a range of executive and non executive directorships in listed organisations, including Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc, 3i Infrastructure Plc, Blackstone/GSO Loan Financing Ltd, DW Catalyst Fund Ltd, NTR Plc, Renewable Energy Generation Ltd and JPMorgan Convertibles Income Fund Ltd.

In addition to her role on the Board, Charlotte is a member of the Laing O’Rourke Audit and Risk Committee, the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee and the Finance Committee.