People moves from Balfour Beatty, BDA, Motts and others

Applied Geology has promoted Adam Perks to technical director for geotechnics and earthworks.

Perks has been with the company since 2011 and was most recently a principal engineering geologist.

Arcadis has appointed Lawrence de Leeuw to principal geotechnical engineer.

De Leeuw joined the company in 2020 as a geotechnical engineer and was made senior geotechnical engineer in 2022.

A-squared Studio Engineers has made Adam Cadman its geo-environmental discipline director.

Cadman joins the company from CGL (Card Geotechnics), where he was associate director. He has more than 13 years’ experience on a wide range of ground engineering projects.

Balfour Beatty has appointed Steve O’Sullivan as project director for High Speed 2’s (HS2) new super-hub station.

O’Sullivan will be responsible for Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra’s HS2 Old Oak Common station project. He takes over from Nigel Russell, who was promoted to CEO of Balfour Beatty’s HS2 major projects business in January 2024.

With more than 40 years of experience in the industry, O’Sullivan has been involved in the delivery of some of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects in the UK and overseas, including Nam Cheong Station West Rail interchange in Hong Kong and Terminal 2B and Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

The British Drilling Association (BDA) has appointed Debbie Darling as its marketing sub-committee chair.

Jooce Marketing & PR managing director Darling took up the role on 9 May this year. In her new role she will work with the members of the marketing sub-committee to drive forward the BDA's initiatives and profile within the drilling sector and wider geotechnical industry.

The British Drilling Association (BDA) has welcomed Mark Toye as its new chair.

Toye is business unit director for ground investigations at Socotec, where he has worked since 2015. He brings a wealth of knowledge and industry experience to his new role, from working as an assistant engineering geologist to a pre-construction manager.

The BDA has said that Toye’s vision for the association is rooted in a deep understanding of the industry, a commitment to sustainability and safety, and an enthusiasm for technological innovation.

Geomarine has appointed Darren Sowney and Steph Forster to board positions.

Sowney heads up the company’s major projects and takes full responsibility for all marine works.

Forster leads the geotechnical department, and is responsible for slope stabilisation and other rope-access works, all drilling works, remediation and other geotechnical consultancy offerings.

Murphy has chosen Chris Milne as its transportation technical lead for geotechnical.

Milne has been with the company since 2020 as a senior engineering manager. He has more than 30 years of engineering and commercial experience, particularly in rail geotechnics and mine treatment.

Murphy Geospatial has promoted Vada Charitsi to technical manager for its monitoring division.

Vada joined the company in 2018 as a junior surveyor engineer and was most recently project manager.

Mott MacDonald has made Connor Langford its earth structures group lead in Canada.

As part of the role, Langford will lead and grow the company’s tunnels, geotechnical and bridges and civil structures teams across Canada. Langford has been with Hatch Mott MacDonald/Mott MacDonald since 2009 and is also the Metro Vancouver key account lead, supporting strategic development for Mott MacDonald’s Canada unit.

Socotec has appointed Preetham Kumar as a junior monitoring surveyor in London.

Kumar was previously a field technician for the company in Coventry, where he worked on the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project.

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