Atkins has appointed Dave Bennett as operations, improvements & innovation director for its UK and Europe business.

A Civil Engineer by trade, Bennett has held a number of senior positions in the public and private sector, most recently as head of operations and business continuity at AECOM.

He joins Atkins on 4 January 2021 and will be based at the company’s European headquarters at Nova North in London.

In his new role, Bennett will be responsible for leading continuous operational improvement across the business and overseeing Atkins UK and Europe’s digital transformation, which forms part of a company-wide focus and investment into digital solutions that have the potential to revolutionize infrastructure delivery.

Richard Robinson, Atkins UK & Europe CEO, said: “Dave brings a wealth of experience in running large, complex engineering services organisations, and has an outstanding track record in business and operational improvement. This will be invaluable as we continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of clients and help drive up productivity across the wider industry through the effective adoption of digital technology.”

The appointment comes hot on the heels of an online business roundtable hosted by Atkins and Infrastructure Intelligence on 21 October, where an influential range of infrastructure leaders predicted a digitally driven post-Covid recovery.