Brightbridge Search appoints Mark Prior as Chair of Alan Wood & Partners

Brightbridge Search is delighted to have supported Alan Wood & Partners and Foresight Group with the appointment of Mark Prior as Chair.

Founded in Hull in 1968, Alan Wood & Partners is a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy providing civil and structural engineering, geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering, building consultancy and project management services. Today, the firm employs more than 100 people across seven regional offices and works with clients across a broad range of built environment sectors.

Foresight Group invested in Alan Wood & Partners earlier this year to support the next phase of its development. The investment will help the business expand its UK footprint, strengthen its capabilities in growing areas of the engineering market and continue to invest in its people and technical expertise.

The appointment of an independent Chair forms part of that next phase. Brightbridge was asked to identify an experienced board leader who understood project-based professional services and could combine strong governance with practical experience of growing consultancy businesses.

Mark brings extensive experience across engineering, construction, property and infrastructure. A Chartered Surveyor and experienced executive and non-executive director, his career has included senior leadership positions with EC Harris and AECOM.

At EC Harris, Mark led the development of its Middle East business from a 30-person operation in Dubai into a regional business employing around 700 people across several markets. He later became Group Head of Transportation, with responsibility for growing the firm's work across major infrastructure and capital programmes in the UK and internationally.

Following AECOM's acquisition of Davis Langdon, Mark became Managing Director of its Programme, Cost, Consultancy business across EMEA, where his responsibilities included organisational development, commercial performance and strategy. He also chaired the global leadership council for the business.

More recently, Mark has developed a substantial non-executive portfolio. He joined the board of Network Rail International in 2023 and previously spent seven years as a Non-Executive Director within the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS organisation, where his responsibilities included chairing the committee overseeing a major programme of capital development.

This combination of executive leadership and board experience is particularly relevant as Alan Wood & Partners builds on almost six decades of engineering heritage. Mark understands the commercial and organisational challenges involved in scaling people-led consultancy businesses, while retaining the technical standards, culture and client relationships that underpin their success.

As Chair, he will work alongside the management team and Foresight, providing independent leadership to the board and supporting the business as it develops under its new ownership.

Brightbridge is pleased to have brought Mark, Alan Wood & Partners and Foresight together and looks forward to following the business's continued development.