Andrew Oswell Bede Davies (born October 1963)[1] is a British businessman, and CEO of Kier Group.
Educated at the University of Sheffield, Davies joined BAE Systems in 1985.[2] At the company he became Managing Director Land Systems in 2004, Group Strategy Director in 2008 and Managing Director Maritime in 2011.[3]
He went on to be CEO of Wates Group in 2014[4] and was appointed CEO designate of Carillion in October 2017.[5] Originally scheduled to join the financially troubled business in April 2018, Carillion announced in December 2017 that it had brought forward his start date to 22 January 2018.[6] However, Carillion went into liquidation one week before he was due to take up his post.[7]
During 2018, Davies continued as a non-executive director of aerospace and defence contractor Chemring, and also walked several long-distance paths including the 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path.[8]
In January 2019, after turning down job offers elsewhere,[8] Davies was linked with the vacant CEO post at the similarly financially troubled Kier Group,[9] officially confirmed on 19 March 2019,[10] with Davies taking up the post on 15 April 2019,[11] when he announced a strategic review of the group's structure.[12] He later said Kier "was fundamentally a very strong operational company but had lost their way strategically and had taken a number of missteps which had proved, frankly, catastrophic."[8]
Less than two months later, on 3 June 2019, Kier issued a profit warning[13] causing its share price to fall over 40%,[14] and the fall continued on 14 June after reports that Kier would sell its housebuilding division.[15] On 17 June, Davies confirmed the housing division sale, plans to exit other markets, and 1,200 job cuts.[16] Kier's share price fell 17% to 108p, a level not seen since the company's 1996 flotation,[17] and its shares were subject to renewed 'shorting' with one analyst saying "every time Andrew Davies opens his mouth [Kier’s] shares seem to dive by 18% and the consensus in the market is that Kier will go bust."[18]
At the group's AGM in November 2019, shareholders objected to Davies's £2.6m annual remuneration package and an associated long-term incentive scheme.[19]