AtkinsRéalis has appointed Sarah Wilkes as managing director of its Secure Government business unit for the UK & Ireland, starting in September.
Wilkes joins from Frazer-Nash Consultancy, where she was managing director and a vice president within parent company KBR, leading a consultancy operating across the defence and energy markets.
She previously spent 17 years in leadership roles at global design, engineering and consulting company Arcadis.
As managing director, Wilkes will lead more than 1,000 people across the UK and Ireland, bringing together expertise in defence, security, management consultancy, digital transformation, cyber resilience and secure technology solutions.
Secure Government supports government and critical national infrastructure organisations, combining engineering, consulting and digital capabilities to help clients operate and modernise in some of the UK’s most sensitive and highly regulated environments.
She succeeds Andy Finch, who is retiring after 16 years with the company.
Chris Ball, president, UK and Ireland at AtkinsRéalis, said: “Sarah’s experience leading multidisciplinary consultancy businesses, and her record of growing organisations through periods of change, equip her to lead AtkinsRéalis’ work in defence, security and critical national infrastructure as government demand for our expertise continues to grow. I also want to thank Andy Finch for his leadership in building this part of our business into what it is today.”
Wilkes said: “AtkinsRéalis has a long record of delivering for government, and its breadth across engineering, digital and advisory services is what drew me here. As the largest consultancy of its kind in the UK and Ireland, AtkinsRéalis has a profound role in supporting government and critical national infrastructure clients to navigate complex security and transformation challenges. I look forward to working with colleagues and clients to build on what the team has already established, and to broadening the ways we bring that expertise into government programmes.”
AtkinsRéalis’ Secure Government portfolio includes engineering support to the Ministry of Defence, spanning the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, alongside wider government programmes in secure digital transformation, cyber resilience and asset optimisation.
Earlier this year, the company was appointed to three Government Commercial Agency (GCA) frameworks covering technology services, digital delivery and management consultancy. It was more recently named a supplier on the GCA’s £3.5bn Construction Professional Services 2 framework, which supports the design and delivery of major infrastructure programmes across the built environment, defence and nuclear sectors.
Main image: Sarah Wilkes, incoming managing director, Secure Government UK & Ireland, AtkinsRéalis
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