Ernest Kenneth Farey (Ken)

[email protected] • 07823324750 • Wiltshire / M4 Corridor

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

A Director / business leader with over 30 years of experience in the UK and Middle-East working for large contracting organisations in the international and UK construction sector. Organised and methodical in approach, providing a focus on detail to achieve business goals and objectives ultimately ensuring outcomes that add value to both customers and stakeholders. A resourceful, determined and enthusiastic leader who values personal integrity and takes ownership for all responsibilities allocated to him. A calm and assured people manager with a track-record of developing high-performing teams. Excellent commercial and negotiation skills developed and applied in a number of business settings including work winning / bidding, procurement, corporate risk management and financial closeout of major projects and projects in distress.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Commercial Consultant
01/2021 - Present
M+W UK
• Employed as a consultant within a focussed team to compile and manage commercial claims both against and for M+W UK in respect both Waste to Energy and Life Science projects.
General Manager
01/2017 - 12/2021
M+W UK
• Responsibility and accountability for all aspects of the business.
• In the early part of 2017, the Group conducted a strategic review and my role changed to focus on the orderly closeout of a number of legacy projects which were no longer aligned with the forward business strategy.
Interim Managing Director
01/2016 - 12/2017
M+W Hargreaves Ltd
• Leadership and responsibility on an interim basis for all aspects of the business as a statutory director.
• Undertook a detailed strategic review of the business and implemented change necessary to drive profitability.
• The changes included selling under- performing parts/outlets, refocusing on core sectors and identifying key talent from within the business to restructure and empower the management team.
• Successfully awarded the largest value contract for the business in 2017 and recruited the permanent Managing Director who continues to lead the business today.
Head of Risk Management & Special Projects
01/2015 - 12/2016
M+W - EMEA Region
• Leader for establishing Risk Management Procedure as a fundamental requirement in work winning for the region.
• The role covered diverse business units in multiple countries with a wide range of contracts and country specific practices.
• Responsible for updating, developing and digitising the process to an online process, which is now a global platform for the Group.
• The on-line tool has processed, reviewed and mitigated risks to the value of more than €12Bn in value of tender opportunities and projects across the EMEA region and is seen as a staple in the Groups corporate governance.
• Whilst undertaking this role I also held the responsibility as Project Sponsor for special projects.
• I was responsible for leading a regional team to bid for large value complex opportunities.
• The two main opportunities being a consortium to secure the engineering and procurement of two Vitrification plants in China and the Construction Management works package at the ITER facility in France.
Head of Proposals and Procurement
01/2012 - 12/2015
M+W UK
• Responsible for leadership and oversight necessary to establish a step change in both Work Winning and the Procurement functions.
• The core sectors at this time were multiple and diverse; Life Sciences, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Semi-Conductors however the board required growth by entering the new sectors of Nuclear and Power.
• The change in performance was achieved by aligning processes, developing individuals and recruitment.
• The functions became very successful with a good team ethos which produced additional secured sales of £170m and £310m in the Nuclear and Power sectors respectively.
• I developed a succession plan to allow me to undertake a regional role within the Group.
Director – Global Procurement
04/2010 - 08/2012
Tourism, Development and Investment Company (TDIC), Abu Dhabi , Abu Dhabi
• Leadership for the establishment and implementation of the Global Procurement Initiative for Abu Dhabi Government owned businesses.
• Responsible for team recruitment, establishing processes and procedures and implementing new strategies such as category management, spend aggregating and low cost sourcing including the realisation of a low cost sourcing office in Shanghai, China.
• The Global Procurement Team were awarded the CIPS Middle East Award 2012 for the Most Improved Purchasing Operation – Step Change “leading from the front award”.
Procurement and Commercial Roles
09/1996 - 04/2010
Laing O’Rourke Middle East , Middle East
• Joined Laing O’Rourke in Egypt and undertook a number of procurement and commercial roles in various Middle-Eastern countries rising to the role of Regional Head of Procurement for all Laing O’Rourke operations based out of Dubai.
Regional Head of Procurement
01/2009 - 04/2010
Laing O’Rourke Middle East , Middle East
• Following the changing market conditions in the Middle East I resumed the regional procurement role in the Middle East whilst retaining responsibility for the procurement of the scaled back Al Raha Beach Development.
• I instigated the re-negotiation of existing preferred supplier agreements to take account of the changing market conditions and re- evaluated the procurement strategy together with the right-sizing of the procurement team.
• During this period, I managed a task team with frequent visits to Saudi Arabia and Syria to investigate the markets and identify opportunities to expand the Laing O’Rourke operations into the wider Middle East region.
Head of Procurement – Al Raha Beach Development
01/2006 - 12/2009
Laing O’Rourke Middle East , Abu Dhabi
• Key member of the senior leadership team directly responsible for all aspects of procurement on the development.
• The role was extremely challenging and required flexibility in approach due to the many operational and strategic demands of such a large development in the Middle East.
• The delivery vehicle for the development was a joint venture between the client / developer and Laing O’Rourke and the role included both strategic and project procurement.
• I was responsible for developing the procurement strategy with the Client to ensure complete transparency, which involved a Core Procurement Committee to ensure that the key decisions and agreements were made in the best interests of the development.
• My previous experience in low cost sourcing and off site manufacturing played a major role in reducing both cost and schedule in project delivery.
Business Procurement Leader – United Arab Emirates
01/2002 - 12/2006
Laing O’Rourke Middle East , United Arab Emirates
• Responsible for strengthening and re-structuring the procurement function in the U.A.E. with the objective of expanding its capability to cover the Middle East region.
• By improving the team and introducing robust strategies and procedures, I was successful in turning the department into a regional procurement office without increasing staff numbers.
• The strategies I established were aggregating annual spend, developing regional supply chain partners and establishing a series of formal and strategic supply chain agreements.
• The strategy was gradually introduced and accounted for more than 70% of the annual spend which provided both certainty and predictability.
• As part of my regional role, I was fully involved in the tendering process and strategy and was part of the “Proposals Team” which secured projects such as:
• Terminal 3 – Dubai International Airport
• Ski Dubai – Mall of the Emirates
• Atlantis Hotel, The Palm, Dubai
• Al Raha Beach Development, Abu Dhabi.
• In securing these major opportunities, I became instrumental in introducing both low cost sourcing to the business and off-site manufacturing to deliver savings and volume of supply.
Procurement / Commercial Manager – Egypt, Libya, Oman
09/1996 - 12/2001
John Laing International , Egypt, Libya, Oman
• Joined John Laing International in Egypt to lead the project procurement on a complex project constructing the Four Seasons Hotel at the First Residence, Giza.
• The role was challenging in respect of language, culture and standards but proved to be an education.
• Responsible for the commercial management for the construction of a Royal palace for the Sultan of Oman in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
• Seconded to Corinthia Hotels Group as Commercial Manager for the multi-storey 5 star hotel; The Corinthia Towers Hotel Project in Tripoli, Libya.

EDUCATION

Advance City & Guilds
01/1985 - 01/1985
BTEC National Diploma in Building Studies
01/1987 - 01/1987
BTEC Higher National Diploma in Building & Civil Engineering Studies
01/1989 - 01/1989

SKILLS

CERTIFICATIONS

Fundamentals of Risk Management
01/2015
Institute of Risk Management
IOSH Certificate – Safety for Senior Executives
01/2013
IOSH
Certificate for Stress Awareness
01/2013
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
Diploma in Managing Projects
01/2012
ESI George Washington University