Who is Balfour Beatty's New Chief Finance Officer?

Balfour Beatty, the FTSE 250 infrastructure construction leader, has confirmed a significant succession in its executive ranks. 

Phil Harrison, the architect of the group’s decade-long financial strategy, is stepping down as Chief Financial Officer.

His successor is Myles Westcott, a seasoned industry operator with significant enterprise financial experience who currently serves as Group Financial Controller at BAE Systems. 

The move represents the final chapter of a leadership refresh following the appointment of Philip Hoare as Group CEO in September 2025. It signals a shift in focus from repair and de-risk to a new era of scaling for the UK’s massive energy and nuclear pipelines.

Phil’s tenure was defined by a cleaning of the house. Having joined in 2015, he leaves behind a business that has moved from a net debt position of £371m (US$501m) in 2014 to a projected average monthly net cash position of over £1.1bn (US$1.4bn) by the end of 2025.

"Phil’s leadership has been instrumental in building Balfour Beatty’s financial strength and resilience," Group CEO Philip Hoare says. 

"He has been at the heart of driving the disciplined profitable growth that has created substantial value for shareholders over the last decade.

A legacy of fiscal rigour

The transition has been designed to ensure smooth succession. 

Phil will remain on the board to oversee the group’s 2025 full-year results in March 2026, delivering final reporting of a year that has seen the company’s order book swell to nearly £20bn (US$27bn). 

Following Myles’s arrival from the £30bn (US$40.5bn) defense contractor BAE, Phil will remain in an advisory capacity for four months to ensure the handoff is seamless.

Phil’s strategy successfully shifted Balfour Beatty away from the "revenue at any cost" model that frequently plagues the construction sector. 

The results of this discipline are stark: between 2021 and 2025, the company returned approximately £944 million to shareholders through dividends and aggressive share buybacks. 

For a company in an industry defined by razor-thin margins, this level of capital return has turned Balfour Beatty into a rare benchmark of cash-flow predictability

Scaling the infrastructure ladder

In Myles, Balfour Beatty has secured a leader accustomed to the complexities of multi-decade, multi-billion-pound contracts. 

During his 25-year tenure at BAE Systems, Westcott managed the financial reporting and risk functions for one of the world’s most complex defense portfolios. 

This background is critical as Balfour Beatty pivots toward the UK’s "generation-defining" infrastructure projects, including the £30 billion Sizewell C nuclear plant and massive upgrades to the national power grid.

The incoming CFO inherits a business with significant momentum but uneven geographical performance. 

While the UK Construction arm saw operating profit margins hit 3.6% in the first half of 2025—passing the board's 3% target a year early—the US Civils business has been a drag on the balance sheet, recently recording an £11 million operating loss due to project delays and design rework in Texas.

Myles’s challenge will be to apply the same industrial-scale rigor he utilised at BAE to Balfour’s international operations, particularly as the group expects revenue to grow by more than 5% in 2026. 

"I look forward to working alongside Philip Hoare and the board to support the company’s profitable growth," Myles said, "ensuring strong financial performance and continuing to create sustainable value for shareholders.