GRAHAM has appointed Dave Brown as its new contracts director for highways projects, leading on the delivery of the Highways England Collaborative Delivery Framework.
Dave is an experienced and highly capable professional who has vast experience of large, multidisciplinary projects across a multitude of sectors including marine, rail, tram, highways and power. Most recently, he has been involved in a multi-billion-pound framework bid for the Highways England framework, providing operational support and acting as a key representative on various forums and boards.
Prior to joining GRAHAM, Dave worked for Kier Infrastructure, where he was project director of the Wakefield Waste PFI Contract, a £100M scheme involving the construction of a complex waste handling facility in conjunction with a wide range of stakeholders.
In his current role, Dave is a key presenter in the Highways Strategic Alignment Review Tool (StART) process, which looks at how GRAHAM aligns its business operations, culture and strategy to Highways England’s business and delivery models. He will work closely with senior management and board members as the key driver behind the two businesses’ alignment.
Dave commented: “I am delighted to be taking on this role within GRAHAM, and I hope that with my extensive experience of multidisciplinary projects and my collaborative and forward-thinking approach to working, I can help the business achieve its operational goals and vision to be a £1billion turnover business by 2021.
“Our civil engineering division has been involved in some very prestigious projects nationwide in recent years, and I am excited at the prospect of leading on the Highways England Collaborative Delivery Framework.
“Highways England is delivering the largest roads investment in a generation and we want to become an essential component of this delivery. My aim is to work as closely as possible with key stakeholders to form an integrated team which will work on the growth, development and upgrade of the Highways England network.”
In his 28-year career, Dave has enjoyed many highlights, one of the proudest being when he received peer and industry recognition by being nominated as project manager of the year in 2001. Many of Dave’s projects have received awards, including an ICE Highly commended award, a Considerate Constructors national ‘Gold’ award and a Highways Agency Zero Safety Award.
Dave has always worked on high profile projects, leading Structures teams in the M40 and M1 widening, along with the Sheffield Supertram project, both of which were award-winning.
His management of the A63 Melton Grade Seperated Junction Scheme, which resulted in the safe delivery of the project, and the award of a prestigious zero accidents safety award to the project team, was highly praised by the Highways Agency.
Dave added: “I have overseen a wide variety of projects in the last 18 years of my career and believe GRAHAM has the expertise and knowledge to expand its service offering in the highways sector.
“We are a family-owned company and continue to work with traditional skills and values. I believe this is what will help us secure long-term partnerships, and with our collaborative and safety-first approach, we can become the partner of choice in the industry.”
GRAHAM’s civil engineering division has been involved in some of the most prestigious projects undertaken in the regions within which it operates, including the Tennison Road Bridge Replacement for Network Rail, the A138 Chelmer Viaduct for Highways England, Gladstone Biomass Facility in Liverpool, the M80 Stepps to Haggs project in central Scotland, the iconic Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin and the M1/M2/Westlink upgrades in Belfast.
Through centuries of expertise, GRAHAM is recognised as one of the most experienced and trusted names in civil engineering, construction and asset management in the UK and Ireland.