Viridor appoints new chief executive

Chartered civil engineer Mr McAulay who has also been appointed an executive director at Viridors parent company Pennon Group will take over the roles from September 9.

He replaces outgoing Viridor chief executive Colin Drummond OBE, who in March 2013 announced his intention to retire after 20 years at the helm of the Taunton-based company (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr McAulay currently works as chief of global strategy and corporate development at US-based firm MWH Gobal, which specialises in water treatment, environmental engineering and construction management.

In this role, Mr McAulays responsibilities include company strategic planning and execution; corporate development; mergers and acquisitions; and operational management of MWHs ResourceNet business in Pune, India.

He has previously worked as managing director of capital programmes at Cheshire-based water and sewage services firm United Utilities, where he was responsible for the companys non-regulated water portfolio and its regulated capital programme.

Having gained a degree in civil engineering, Mr McAulay started his career as a consulting civil engineer and held a number of positions with Glasgow engineering firm Crouch and Hogg in Glasgow. He subsequently moved to Montgomery Watson which merged with Harza in 2001 to form MWH Global, which he will leave in September to join Viridor.

Mr McAulay has also successfully completed the Harvard Business Schools Advanced Management Programme and Cambridge Universitys Business and Environment Programme.

Delighted

Commenting on Mr McAulays appointment, retiring chief executive Mr Drummond said: I am delighted with Ian’s appointment to lead Viridor on the next stage of its growth and to continue the development of its strategy. Viridor has secured an enviable pipeline of public private partnerships and a 1.5bn investment programme building green infrastructure to maximise recycling and energy generation from waste.

The knowledge and experience Ian brings to the business, together with the talent and skills we already have within the company, will confirm Viridor’s position as one of the UK’s leading recycling, renewable energy and waste management companies.

Mr Drummond has agreed to take up the position of non-executive chairman of Viridor from September.

The selection process for a new chief executive was led by Pennon Group chairman Ken Harvey and supported by the Groups nominations committee.

Mr Harvey said: I am delighted to welcome Ian to Pennon Group. He brings with him extensive experience of developing and delivering large scale, capital intensive infrastructure projects in both regulated and unregulated businesses and management of major complex organisations, which I believe will prove invaluable to the company.