The new chief executive of construction group Kier is to lead a strategic review of the business which last month revealed its debt pile was £50 million higher than previously thought,
The group, which has a string of contracts in Scotland, said the review by Andrew Davies, who took up the post today, will look at creating a more focused group and steps to improve cash generation and reduce leverage.
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“This review will build on work that has been undertaken by the board in recent months and is in addition to the previously announced Future Proofing Kier programme,” it said.
The conclusions of the review will be announced in July,
In March the contractor – which is involved in HS2 and Crossrail - said that an accounting error in its first half results meant net debt was £181 million and not £130 million which it previously thought.
In January the company announced previous CEO Haydn Mursell was leaving with immediate effect following a poorly received rights issue.
In November Kier's Scottish arm won a £9.7 million contract to redevelop the University of Strathclyde's Wolfson building in Glasgow. The work on the six-storey listed building is a part of a wider £15.5 million investment in the site to establish it as a leading UK biomedical engineering department. The work is due to start shortly and the building is due to be completed by early 2020.
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The company had also been tasked with the restoration of the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art following its first fire in 2014. But following the second devastating fire which has seen areas of Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow still cordoned off, Kier's £25m contract was ended.
Kier also recently completed the multi-million-pound overhaul of two historic buildings for the University of Edinburgh.
