Kier appoints new finance chief

Kier Group has appointed Tom Hinton as its next chief financial officer, replacing Simon Kesterton, who will step down at the end of December after six years in the role.

Hinton (pictured), who is currently interim chief executive at logistics firm Wincanton, will take up the position from January.

He previously served as Wincanton’s CFO from 2022-25 and held senior financial roles at Infinis Energy and Domestic & General.

Chief executive Stuart Togwell said Hinton’s background in financial strategy, cost management and capital allocation would help support Kier’s growth ambitions.

Kesterton joined Kier in August 2019 during a period of restructuring under then-chief executive Andrew Davies, overseeing a balance sheet recovery along with major IT and procurement changes.

His previous roles included group finance director at plastics firm RPC Group (2013-19) and executive roles at automotive components supplier IAC Group (2006-12).

He said: “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved at Kier and for restoring trust and confidence in the Group. After six great years, and working with such a fantastic team, the time feels right to pass the baton and to move on to my next challenge.”

Kesterton was the fifth-highest paid person in the latest Construction News executive pay table.

He earned £542,000 in basic pay last year plus more than £2m in bonuses and other renumeration, resulting in a total package of £2.6m.

In a trading update last month, £4.1bn-turnover Kier said it had secured 94 per cent of estimated revenue for the current financial year, with an order book of around £11.6bn as of 30 June.

Source: Kier announcement