Laing O'Rourke appoints Seamus French as Non-Executive Board Director

Laing O’Rourke today confirmed the appointment of Seamus French, CEO of Anglo American’s bulk commodities business, to its Group Board.

Seamus joined Anglo American in 2007 and in his current role is responsible for a portfolio which accounted for half of Anglo’s $10 billion EBITDA in 2019. He also sits on their Group Management Committee.

Before joining Anglo American, he worked in a range of chemical and resources businesses, including as Global Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee at BHP Billiton.

Sir John Parker, Chairman of Laing O’Rourke, said: “Seamus is a world-class engineer with considerable international experience. I am delighted he will be joining our Group Board in a Non-Executive role.

“He will bring important new insights and perspectives that will help us accelerate the transformation of the Group businesses. After experiencing his performance management skills when I was Chairman of Anglo American, I believe he will be very well received by our management, clients and other stakeholders, especially during this time of extreme turbulence for the economy and society.

“Seamus is my third Non-Executive appointment to the Group Board in the past two years, following those of international banker and experienced Non-Executive Director Charlotte Valeur, and former Deloitte partner Greg Branch.

“I am confident we are making the right appointments to support our increased focus on resilience, certainty, governance and performance.”

Seamus’s appointment to the Group Board follows the announcement on Tuesday that Rowan Baker will join the company in September as Chief Financial Officer.