Director Biographies
Charles Morrison - Chief Executive
Charles has been Managing Director of Morrison Utility Services for the last 15 years. Following the acquisition of Morrison Utility Services by Motion Equity Partners (formally Cognetas) and Bregal Capital in March 2008 from Anglian Water Group, Charles was appointed Chief Executive. During his career, Charles has undertaken a number of roles, including Commercial Director- Morrison Group; Managing Director- Morrison Asset Management; and Managing Director of AWG Utility Services. Prior to joining Morrison Utility Services, Charles was involved in major petro-chemical construction projects throughout the UK and Europe for BP Chemicals. Charles is a qualified Quantity Surveyor, a fellow of the Institute of Cost Engineers and a Companion of the Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers.
Martin Beesley - Chief Financial Officer
Martin joined Morrison Utility Services in September 2008 after working for 12 years at United Utilities in a number of roles, including Head of Investor Relations, Group Financial Controller, Finance Director for regulated utilities, and Director of Strategy. Prior to United Utilities, Martin was with KPMG in Preston for nine years. In this time, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and worked with a number of blue chip clients across audit, tax, corporate finance and advisory services.
Jim Arnold – Executive Director
Jim joined Morrison Utility Services in 1998 as an Area Manager, appointed a Director in 2000 and an Executive Director in 2009. Jim is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the ICE. He is also MBA qualified and a Chartered Director. Jim has worked in the construction/utility sector for over 25 years and has extensive experience in long-term frameworks and the development and operation of innovative commercial models that ensure the right incentives are established to deliver sustainable value to all parties.
Adam Gosnold – Executive Director
Adam has been involved in all aspects of Utility Services for over 30 years having joined Morrison Utility Services (then Biggs Wall Ltd) as a site based engineer. Having left the company for a short spell during 1987, he returned as Area Agent, progressing through a number of site management positions before being appointed to the executive staff in 1995. Since then Adam has been instrumental in the development of partnerships and long-term relationships with key clients in the South of England. Appointed a Director in 1997, Adam is responsible for the Southern area.
Mike Harrison – Executive Director
Mike joined Morrison Utility Services in 1997 as an Area Manager. He was subsequently appointed Northern Area Director in 1998. Mike became Operations Director (West) of Anglian Water Services in 2001 and now as an Executive Director, has responsibility for telecoms throughout the business, Southern Gas Networks Contract in the South East of England and our Utility Business in Ireland. Mike is a Civil Engineer with experience working on national contracts for blue chip clients.
Ged Shannon - Executive Director
Ged joined Morrison Utility Services in 2001 as a Construction Manager, progressing to an Area Manager in the North in 2002. He was appointed Contract Director for Scottish Power Energy Networks, Yorkshire Water and Northern Powergrid contracts in 2009 and was appointed Executive Director in 2012.
Jim Winnicott – Group Commercial Director
Jim joined Morrison Utility Services in 1999. As Group Commercial Director, he has overall responsibility for the Support Services function (Supply Chain, Continuous Improvement, IT, Insurance and Estimating), while focusing on governance processes, business risk minimisation and commercial pressure points.
Paul Kerridge – Health and Safety Director
Paul joined Morrison Utility Services in October 2007 having previously worked for Balfour Beatty Metro as Head of Safety, Health, Environmental and Quality. Prior to this Paul worked for AMEC as a SHEQ Manager involved in Roads and Structures. Paul has had a varied career including spending 24 years as a Royal Engineer.
Jeremy Harrison – Director - Plant and Fleet Services
Jeremy has over 25 years experience in the Plant and Fleet Hire Industry, having originally started his career with Morrison Utility Services (then Biggs Wall Ltd) in 1981. Upon rejoining Morrison Utility Services in 1998, he was appointed Area Plant Manager for the North of England and subsequently appointed Director of Morrison Plant & Fleet Services in 2003. Jeremy is a Member of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers and the Society of Operations Engineers.
Tim Sargent - Business Development Director
Tim joined Morrison Utility Services as Business Development Director in March 2009 having previously worked for a number of the UK's leading utility service providers including May Gurney, DJ Ryan, Galliford Pipeline Services, Insituform and FlowMole. Tim has a degree in civil engineering, a diploma in marketing and over 23 years of experience in various core and specialist utility markets in the UK.
Ian Cusden - Finance Director
Ian joined Biggs Wall Limited in 1984 as a Financial Accountant and then became Group Accountant for Shand Group in 1988. Following Morrison Utility Services' acquisition of the Shand Group in 1989, Ian became a Regional Accountant. He joined the Executive Staff of Morrison Utility Services in 1992 and became Divisional Finance Manager in 1996. Ian has been in his current role as Financial Director since 1999 and is a Chartered Accountant.
Kevin Shiers – Human Resources Director
Kevin joined Morrison Utility Services as Human Resources Director in March 2008 having previously worked for leading UK FTSE 100 companies including BP, Dairy Crest and BAE Systems. He was also UK HR Director for Schindler, an international lift manufacturer. Kevin is responsible for people development across the business with a particular focus on building organisational capability and improving operational excellence. Kevin is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management.