AtkinsRéalis has appointed Sarah Wilkes as managing director of its secure government business unit for the UK & Ireland.
Wilkes (pictured) joins the business from Frazer-Nash Consultancy where she was managing director and a vice president within its parent company KBR. Prior to that, she spent 17 years in leadership roles at Arcadis.
In her new role, she succeeds Andy Finch, who is retiring after 16 years with the company, and will lead more than 1,000 people across the UK and Ireland, bringing together specialist expertise in defence, security, management consultancy, digital transformation, cyber resilience and secure technology solutions. She will begin the role on 7 September.
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 added: “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.”
