M Group Services, whose businesses include Milestone Infrastructure, has appointed former retail boss and Tory MP Archie Norman as non-executive chairman.
Mr Norman was formerly chief executive and chairman of Asda and became chairman of Marks and Spencer in 2017. He has also been chairman of ITV and a management consultant with McKinsey.
In the infrastructure sector, he was a director of Railtrack, which failed disastrously and was nationalised, and chairman of telecommunication business Energis.
Mr Norman also had a political career as a Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells for eight years.
He was shadow secretary of state for the environment, transport and the regions, during the last Labour government and also co-founded think tank Policy Exchange.
He was also the lead non-executive board member at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for four years, until 2020.
M Group Services chief executive Andrew Findlay said: ‘I’m delighted to welcome Archie to our group and look forward to working with him as we continue to evolve to deliver at the pace of change needed to support essential infrastructure that needs to adapt to a changing world.
‘With an extensive track record in business change and value creation, Archie is a strong advocate for the role of people and culture in long term business success.’
Mr Norman said: ‘This is an exciting time to become chairman of M Group Services. There’s a need to not only maintain, but also to renew and reimagine the essential infrastructure that keeps our country running and supports all aspects of life.
‘I’m delighted to be helping M Group Services to tackle this once in a generation challenge and evolve at this pivotal time.’
In 2020, M Group Services acquired Skanska UK's highway maintenance and street lighting business, forming a new operating business called Milestone Infrastructure.
