Laing O’Rourke’s chief financial officer (CFO) is set to leave the firm to join a FTSE 100 plastic products manufacturer.
Rowan Baker, who joined Laing O’Rourke as its finance lead in 2020, will join Essentra Plc as CFO on 5 November.
Her departure from the UK’s biggest privately-owned construction firm comes after Cathal O’Rourke became chief executive in July, taking over from his father, Ray O’Rourke, who founded the firm in 1977.
Baker will be replaced by Paul Teasdale, who is currently Laing O’Rourke’s deputy CFO and finance director for its Australia business. Teasdale joined the firm in 2018 from Lendlease, after nearly three years at the Sydney-based contractor.
On Teasdale’s appointment, Cathal O’Rourke said: “We have appointed a capable and experienced finance leader who was instrumental to the growth of our business in Australia. I am looking forward to working closely with him again in his new role.”
Laing O’Rourke also posted its most recent financial results this week, tabling a £40m pre-tax profit a year after it plunged to a £288.1m pre-tax loss.
On top of her work at Laing O’Rourke, Baker is a non-executive director at housebuilder Vistry Group and chairs its audit committee. Previously, she worked as CFO of McCarthy Stone Group, a developer specialising in retirement homes, and had stints at Barclays Bank and PwC.
Baker said: “I look forward to working with Scott [Fawcett, Essentra chief executive] and the board in enhancing growth initiatives, supporting operational effectiveness and making continued progress on strategic objectives.”
In 2021, Baker told Construction News that Laing O’Rourke was preparing to float the company on the stock exchange. That was then delayed as Ray O’Rourke, the firm’s founder, searched for a successor. Now his son has taken over, but there has been no word on plans to float the company since.
