Barhale appoints director for North: delivery and succession insights for project teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Barhale has appointed Nick Curtis as northern regional director, following his progression from engineer in 2011 to regional manager in 2023, with project experience spanning utility diversions at Battersea Power Station, Crossrail infrastructure works, and pipeline, drainage and highways schemes across Yorkshire and the Midlands. Curtis replaces former northern director James Ingamells, who becomes COO, while Nathan Hutchinson steps in as framework manager to support key regional client frameworks. CEO Martin Brown says Curtis is one of five recent director promotions delivered through Barhale’s five-year succession planning strategy.
Technical Brief
- Utility diversion experience at Battersea Power Station implies complex buried services, tight working envelopes and live interfaces.
- Crossrail infrastructure work background suggests familiarity with deep excavations, shaft construction and urban tunnelling constraints.
- Pipeline installation for residential developments indicates competence in shallow trenching, service corridors and adoption procedures.
- Drainage and highways schemes across Yorkshire and the Midlands involve varied ground conditions and highway authority standards.
- Prior role as site agent at J Breheny adds exposure to alternative temporary works and construction methodologies.
Our Take
Barhale’s recent run of Thames Water awards – including the £17m Greenwich Trunk Main and multiple AMP8 schemes – suggests the new northern director role is being created against a backdrop of strong water-sector workload that may now be mirrored or pursued with northern utilities.
The firm’s succession-driven tally of five director appointments aligns with the earlier promotion of its southern regional director to national executive director, signalling a deliberate shift from regionally siloed leadership towards a more integrated UK-wide structure.
Given Barhale’s track record on complex urban assets such as Crossrail and Battersea Power Station, strengthening leadership in Yorkshire and the Midlands positions the company to compete more aggressively on technically demanding rail and water projects in those regions as pipeline funding firms up.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Tunnelling
Specialised solutions for tunnelling projects including grout mix design, hydrogeological analysis, and quality control.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.