New man at the helm brings Joy to Grontmij

Engineering consultancy Grontmij UK has bolstered its senior team with the appointment of a new managing director.

In an interesting move, Max Joy OBE joined the business on 1 March directly from the British Army in which he served for 28 years. For the past three years, Joy was based at Army Headquarters, Andover, where he was assistant head capability development equipment support.

Chartered mechanical engineer Joy was awarded the OBE in 2011 for outstanding leadership and engineering management achievements. He replaces interim managing director, Jeff Davitt, who will support Joy in the role of chief operating officer.

Joy joins Grontmij UK at an interesting time following their acquisition in October last year by leading European architecture and engineering consultancy, Sweco, which is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Sweco has 14,500 employees, sales of approximately SEK 16 billion (£1.3 billion) and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Welcoming Joy to the company, Sweco president and chief executive officer, Tomas Carlsson, said: “With Max Joy, we are getting a strong leader as well as engineer, which will allow us to further strengthen Sweco’s positions in the UK. Max will be instrumental in implementing our strategic plans for the UK and ensure that we are the first choice for clients and talents.”

In the UK, the company employs 800 people and has specialist expertise in the fields of energy, transportation, environment, asset management, sustainable buildings and water. It has a national office network with a presence in Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Maidenhead, Manchester, Newcastle, Peterborough and Solihull. 

Commenting on his appointment, Joy, said: “Sweco is an ambitious business dedicated to being the most approachable and committed partner with recognised expertise. We have a highly skilled team here in the UK that is entirely aligned with this way of working and we can also provide our clients with direct integrated access to Sweco’s vast experience and technical expertise.

“These are exciting times for both our business and British industry. I look forward to working with colleagues and clients to deliver outstanding consultancy services that will help design the UK’s cities and communities of the future.”