Engineering giant Weir Group has selected Andrew Neilson as the new president of its ESCO mining equipment division after veteran incumbent Jon Owens announced his retirement.
Weir bought Oregon-based ESCO in 2018 for £900 million, making it the Glasgow-headquartered company’s largest acquisition. Owens, who had joined ESCO in 1986 and latterly served as its president, remained with Weir to lead the new division.
Neilson, who is currently regional managing director of Europe, Russia, Central Asia and North Africa at the Weir Minerals division, oversaw the integration of ESCO into Weir. He has also held a number of senior posts in the group, including director of strategy and corporate affairs and vice president of finance for Weir Minerals.
Neilson, who studied engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and qualified as an accountant, will join Weir’s group executive on 1 April and will work with Owens during a three-month transition before his retirement on 15 July. Before joining Weir in 2010, Neilson worked at Bank of Scotland, ScottishPower, HSBC and KPMG.
Chief executive Jon Stanton paid tribute to Owens for “his enormous contribution to ESCO and Weir”. Stanton added: “I am delighted that Jon will be succeeded by Andrew Neilson, who successfully led the ESCO integration team and brings a wealth of experience from across our business.”
