Publishers of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) documents are looking to the new chair to help expand the form of contract’s reach from construction and engineering into manufacturing.
Before joining the Crown Commercial Service, John Welch was head of procurement at Cavendish (Babcock) Nuclear, where he worked on Hinkley Point C and decommissioning projects such as Sellafield’s Magnox facility.
The NEC users’ group was previously chaired by David Hancock, construction director of the Infrastructure Projects Authority – another Cabinet Office organisation. He recently took over as chair of the Construction Industry Research & Information Association (CIRIA).
Before David Hancock it was Beth West in the NEC users’ group chair, when she was HS2’s commercial director.
John Welch said: “NEC has already forged a reputation as the leading procurement contract provider to the construction industry, which gives me confidence in its ability to expand its reach globally and into new sectors.
“In the future, I want NEC to be synonymous with carbon reduction, and it’s extremely reassuring to see that it’s already heavily on the agenda industry wide. The collaboration and flexibility that NEC offers means it already plays a vital role in the industry, and it’s promising to see that this will only continue.
“After what’s been a difficult past two years, industry and government bodies have grown closer than ever, and I’m pleased to be working with NEC at a time when the sector is in such a fortunate position”.
Rekha Thawrani, global head of NEC, said: “Following the pandemic and the turbulence of the last two years for the construction industry, developing strong working relationships and good collaboration needs to continue to be the foundation for enhancing project outcomes. John’s experience in public sector roles makes him perfectly positioned to navigate NEC’s outreach into new markets both nationally and globally. Having worked on numerous major projects across a wide expanse of sectors, we’re confident that John will bring the expertise needed to support the growth of NEC.”
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