D’Alton strikes the deals to make PB an attractive proposition

Mike D’Alton quit consultant WSP three years ago to become Parsons Brinckerhoff’s director of highways and transportation. This week WSP bought PB from Balfour Beatty. Before the announcement was made, D’Alton spoke to Andrew Forster about the last three years and the changing face of the UK transport consultancy sector

Andrew Forster

05 September 2014

Mike D’Alton

M25: Parsons Brinckerhoff and parent company Balfour Beatty are part of the Connect Plus consortium, which is responsible for managing and improving London’s orbital motorway

Many of the transport projects that Parsons Brinckerhoff works on make headline news – HS2, Manchester Metrolink and the M25 to name but three. But it’s unusual for the media spotlight to shine on the infrastructure consultancy itself. Since parent company Balfour Beatty announced PB was up for sale in May, however, there has been feverish speculation about who would buy a business that employs almost 14,000 people worldwide, 2,500 of them in the UK. Last month the sale process was...