Atkins’ chairman Allan Cook appointed to UKTI - 20 July 2010
Allan Cook CBE, chairman of the UK’s largest engineering design consultancy Atkins, has been appointed to lead the UK Trade & Investment’s (UKTI) Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board (AdESAB). His new role as incoming AdESAB chairman will see him help to raise the profile of the UK’s Advanced Engineering companies across the globe.
Allan’s appointment to AdESAB - which comes a week after he was named as a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering - will involve supporting the board in identifying key new technologies and markets with potential for UK companies to trade in. The Board’s primary role is to advise UKTI on strategic activities that will encourage inward investment and help UK-based companies to develop business overseas. As the world’s 11th largest design firm, Atkins is engaged in many of the areas that UKTI is seeking to drive forward, such as energy, transportation and environmental engineering.
Allan said: “It is a privilege and an honour to be taking on the role of chairman of UKTI’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board in challenging times. Anyone who knows me will recognize that I relish this and I am looking forward to playing my part. How this sector positions itself globally over the next few years will have a major bearing on how well the UK economy recovers from the travails of recent times.
“The UK must become increasingly adept at using its resource of expert engineers on the world stage if it is to really achieve strong economic recovery. There can be no doubt that our universities, leading consultants, manufacturers and contractors have world class skills but we will not succeed with that alone. What is required is for us to show off our skills, seek new markets and really push ourselves forward.”
Allan was appointed to the role of AdESAB chairman for a period of three years by the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk MP. Mr Prisk said: “Allan brings with him a wealth of experience which, as we strive to rebalance the economy and increase the UK’s position as a high-tech exporter, will be well-used by UKTI.”
Ends
For more information:
Andy Winstanley
Head of Media Relations
+44(0)1372 752018 / +44(0)7803 259643
Andy.Winstanley@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
About Allan Cook CBE
Allan Cook was appointed a non-executive director of Atkins in September 2009, taking up the post of chairman on 1 February 2010. He is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. He was chief executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009. Prior to this he held senior roles at GEC-Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft. He is a non-executive director of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Limited and a member of the operating executive board of J.F. Lehman & Company. He is also chairman of UK Trade & Investment’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board, chairman of the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA), past president of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), past president of the Society of British Aerospace and Defence Companies (SBAC), director of the Industry Forum, director of the Apprentice Ambassador Network and a committee member of the UK Ministerial Advisory Group for Manufacturing. He was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2008 and is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
About Atkins
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy and the world’s 11th largest design firm. We have the depth and breadth of expertise to respond to the most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
Recent projects include:
• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on London’s Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems on Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line;
• Multidisciplinary building design – North Wood Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010; received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector; and was named among The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2009 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2009. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2010 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.