Turner & Townsend has bolstered its UK project management consultancy with three senior appointments, naming Mike O’Donnell as UK PMC lead, Al Fernie as project director and Jason Smith as director. According to the firm’s announcement and industry coverage, the hires are intended to strengthen delivery across complex programmes and to expand the integrated project management, cost consultancy and construction management capabilities that Turner & Townsend offers to clients.

Mike O’Donnell brings almost four decades of experience on major London schemes to the role, having worked on projects including the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the O2 Arena and Bloomberg’s London campus. His long association with Sir Robert McAlpine — the contractor recently reflected on his return to that firm and his previous stewardship of large commercial projects — underlines the senior hands-on delivery experience Turner & Townsend is emphasising with this hire.

Al Fernie and Jason Smith join to provide sector-specific delivery expertise. Fernie, who has worked with Multiplex and Balfour Beatty, will oversee delivery across hyperscale data centres, healthcare and mixed‑use projects as project director; Smith, whose background includes roles at JRL, Mace and Durkan, will concentrate on data-centre and technology programmes. The appointments reflect an explicit push to deepen the consultancy’s capability in fast-growing, capital‑intensive sectors where specialist delivery and supply‑chain coordination are critical.

Turner & Townsend frames the move as part of a deliberate build‑out of its integrated PMC model, which it describes as combining project management, construction management and cost consultancy to coordinate delivery partners and drive programme, cost and quality outcomes. “Programmes are becoming increasingly complex,” Chris Sargent, managing director for UK real estate, commented in the company release, adding that the PMC approach gives clients greater oversight of the supply chain and helps identify both risks and opportunities for cost or schedule gains. The firm says these hires form part of targeted investment to meet rising client demand.

The personnel moves come after a significant structural change in the sector: in January 2025 CBRE completed the combination of its project management business with Turner & Townsend, a transaction the companies said was designed to create broader global scale and a deeper talent pool. CBRE’s public statement on the deal described the enlarged business as delivering enhanced offerings across major programmes, infrastructure and the transition to net zero, and noted board-level appointments associated with the integration. Industry releases at the time also highlighted the enlarged workforce and international footprint that underpin expanded delivery capacity.

Market indicators cited by industry commentators suggest the appointments are being made into a favourable demand environment. Turner & Townsend has previously pointed to double‑digit growth across several divisions and independent coverage reported turnover growth to around £1.5 billion, citing expansion across real estate, infrastructure and energy and increasing demand for programme and delivery expertise. The firm and market analysts argue that scale, specialist teams and closer coordination with contractors and supply chains are becoming a differentiator for clients facing capacity constraints, regulatory change and tighter viability pressures.

Taken together, the hires signal a strategic push to align senior delivery experience with the broader capability set created by the CBRE‑Turner & Townsend combination and recent organic growth. The company presents the appointments as client‑facing reinforcements that will help steer complex programmes; independent observers will watch whether the combination of global scale and senior sector hires translates into measurable improvements in cost certainty, programme resilience and supply‑chain engagement on the ground.

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Source: Noah Wire Services