Judges Profile
Naomi
Connell
chief finance officer
,VolkerWessels UK
Naomi joined the board of multi-disciplinary engineering contractor, VolkerWessels UK, in 2010. Since that time, VolkerWessels UK has developed a significant presence and reputation in the UK infrastructure sector, operating across a wide range of civil engineering and construction sectors - including highways and airports, rail, marine, defence, energy, water and environmental infrastructure. Employing around 3000 people across the country, VolkerWessels UK has seen revenues increase from £0.5bn to £1.2bn since 2010, with its growth enabled by consistent profitability and cash generation. The business sits at 15th in the CN100 list of the UK’s top 100 contractors.
As the UK board member with responsibility for Finance and support activities including ICT, HR, Legal and Learning and Development, Naomi has been instrumental in driving progress in the underpinning support of all of the VolkerWessels UK businesses, including the development of shared services, and improvements in back office systems and processes.
Naomi is VolkerWessels UK’s main board sponsor for equality, diversity and inclusion, chairs the EDI steering committee, and was involved in the Construction News Inspire Me campaign. She also takes a special interest in supporting local communities and early careers and invests considerable time in coaching and mentoring the next generation. In recognition of her contribution to the industry, in 2019, Naomi was named as one of the Financial Times 100 most influential women in engineering.
She originally qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Touche Ross, and held positions at Deloitte and Ernst and Young. Before joining VolkerWessels UK, Naomi was Director of Finance and Support Offices for London Underground.