Meet our team

Joanna Gilroy

Group Director of Sustainability

Jo has had a diverse career as a sustainability professional having worked across multiple geographies and sectors. She began her career working for IKEA in Sweden before immigrating to Australia. Returning to the UK, Jo took the position as Head of Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility with the FTSE 100 distribution and logistics group, Bunzl. Jo has worked closely with Government and key customers in the hospitality and retail sectors to help address ocean pollution from single use plastics. Before joining Balfour Beatty in April 2022, she entered the construction sector as Group Head of Sustainability & Environment at Kier.

Jade Hunt

Sustainability Director for Group Reporting and Strategic Delivery

Jade has 23 years' experience working in various construction industry, environment and sustainability roles. Jade is responsible for the Group's sustainability reporting team who interpret our sustainability data and translate it into practical solutions for our projects. A key focus for Jade and her team is the delivery of improvements to the Sustainability Portal, simplifying our Group reporting processes and supporting projects in developing sustainability action plans with clear priorities and outcomes.

Geri Straine

Sustainability Director - Transport, Energy & Power and Major Projects

Geri has worked at Balfour Beatty for 12 years. Prior to this Geri worked with a number of global clients including General Electric, BAA, Lend Lease, Prupim, Grosvenor, M&S, Hammerson, Masdar, Harvard University and the Saudi Government. Geri plays a key role in bringing our sustainability action plans to life to help ensure we meet our 2030 targets and ultimately achieve our 2040 ambitions as set out in our sustainability strategy.

Sam Bower

Head of Biodiversity, Ecology and Arboriculture

Sam has extensive experience as an ecology and arboricultural specialist. Working for Balfour Beatty for over nine years he is responsible for blue-green infrastructure asset creation and enhancement, biodiversity net gain and the delivery of ecological and arboricultural mitigation across an extensive range of infrastructure projects. Sam has a drive for making real and measurable difference and is a contributor to numerous industry and specialist interest groups including CIRIA - Delivering Green Infrastructure Along Linear Assets, the CIEEM Soil Charter, the CIEEM Accredited Ecological Clerk of Works pilot scheme, CIRIA biodiversity community of practice and CIRIA construction soils management community of practice.

Andrea Holt

Social Impact Manager

Andrea has been with the business for over 14 years and is passionate about ensuring our projects leave a lasting legacy we are proud of. Andrea’s focus is on supporting our projects to deliver significant, meaningful social impact that generates social value and strengthens the communities we work in.

Ashley Oates

Head of Environmental Sustainability - Power Transmission and Distribution

Ashley has over 20 years of experience working in environment and sustainability. She started out as a contaminated land officer at a local authority and then spent 10 years working in various roles across the UK and Scandinavia for Skanska. She spent six years immersing herself in the waste, recycling and resources industry as Head of Sustainability for WARD alongside sitting on the Considerate Constructors Scheme's Performance Management Board. Ashley is now Head of Environment and Sustainability for Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission and Distribution business and sits on IEMA's Circular Economy Steering Group and Midlands Regional Steering Group.

Iain Casson

Head of Sustainability – HS2 Area North

Iain joined our Balfour Beatty Vinci joint venture in March 2023 from Kier, where he held the role of Head of Sustainability. He has over 25 years of environmental experience working in the manufacturing, utilities, construction and civil engineering sectors. As Head of Sustainability for our HS2 Area North project, Iain is responsible for driving sustainability performance across the project and delivering the the project's sustainability strategy.

Richard Ryan

Senior Vice President, National Safety

Richard has 40 years construction industry experience, spending his early career as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with construction companies in England and Ireland before relocating to the US. In his role as Senior Vice President, National Safety for our US Buildings and Civils businesses, Richard ensures we continuously drive improvements in safety and sustainability practice by creating safe and environmentally responsible workplaces for our colleagues, industry partners and the public.

Emma Harvey

Group Sustainability Manager

Emma joined Gammon, our 50:50 joint venture in Hong Kong, in 2015 and is responsible for advising on project-specific environmental issues as well as driving corporate sustainability across Gammon. Her current areas of focus include climate change risk management, implementing the sustainability strategy, mapping Gammon’s route to meet their science-based carbon reduction target and helping to drive Gammon’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Emma has 27 years' experience in environmental consulting, multi-disciplinary project management, value and construction risk management facilitation, business development, sustainable urban planning, tourism planning and green buildings.

Eddie Tse

Senior Sustainability Manager

Eddie has more than 25 years’ experience in the construction and environmental field, specialising in sediment and land contamination assessment and remediation, carbon and energy management, renewable energy projects as well as waste and asbestos management. In recognition of his expertise, he was appointed as a Construction Advisor in the development of the Construction Industry Council Carbon Assessment Tool and Sustainable Finance Certification Scheme. Eddie is also Vice Chairman of the Environment Committee for the Hong Kong Construction Association, a steering committee member of the Circular Economy Advisory Group of the Business Environment Council and has been appointed by the Environment and Ecology Bureau as a member of the working group for the review of the HKSAR air quality objectives.

Ivan Chiu

Sustainability Manager

Ivan has over 14 years’ expertise as a sustainability professional in the built environment. Starting his career in site-based environmental control systems and green building certification management, Ivan then moved onto manage environmental engineering teams on building projects. He is responsible for corporate sustainability initiatives, including stakeholder engagement and sustainability reporting. Ivan also supports Gammon's buildings team on tenders and provides training and advice on both green and healthy building certifications as well as advising the local Hong Kong Green Building Council on the development of industry standards and best practices.