Osborne recruits Laing O’Rourke finance boss

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Osborne has appointed Peter Duff as its new group finance director.

Duff was formerly the Europe finance director for Laing O’Rourke, and served in the same position for the group’s UK business before that.

A chartered accountant by training, Duff worked as a regional chief financial officer for Balfour Beatty between 2013 and 2015.

He replaces Stuart Hammond, who departs the role after six years but spent a total of 17 years with the tier one contractor.

Commenting on Duff’s arrival, Osborne chief executive David Smith said: “I am delighted we have appointed Peter as we push ahead with our exciting strategy to take advantage of our lower carbon design, offsite manufacturing capability, housing retrofit expertise and our build to rent developments partnership.”

Smith also announced that current employee John Fernandez had been promoted to company secretary. He was previously developments financial controller.

In a post on LinkedIn, Hammond said he had given notice to the board of his resignation last year, but had “continued to give 110%” to the business since them, which he “cared deeply about”.

Duff added that, after a short break, he would be looking to take on part-time CFO positions.

Last year, the group sold its infrastructure business in line with its strategic move to focus on offsite work.

The contractor’s offsite business, Innovare, benefited from the sale, securing spots on two major government frameworks. The sale also contributed to a profit before tax of £675,000 for the year ending in September 2021, despite a drop in revenue.




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