Birmingham-based engineering firm Adi Group has made a key appointment to its senior management team to lead its sustained growth plan. Paul Smith, whose near-30-year career includes delivering world-scale projects across the globe, joins the multi-disciplinary organisation from Wood plc, where he led its Circular Economy, Green Mobility, FMCG and Life Sciences businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

In a wide-ranging brief as the new chief operating officer, Mr Smith will be focused on driving the company’s continued growth through innovation and collaboration, as the engineering and construction sector prepares to build on last year’s significant recovery.

Alan Lusty, CEO of Adi Group, considers this appointment as integral to further capitalising on what both Fitch Ratings and Deloitte report will be a year of broad industry upturn.

He said: “We are buoyed by both Adi’s and industry in general’s solid performance in 2021, and very pleased that we significantly expanded the number of active projects we won and delivered last year. As we continue our growth plans within our current 2025 business plan, Paul will ensure we are prepared for sustained high-quality delivery of our engineering services.”

Mr Smith continued: “This is a pivotal time in the engineering and manufacturing sector, and joining an ambitious, innovative firm in what will undoubtedly be a rewarding New Year is truly refreshing.

“Adi Group specialises in more than 30 different engineering disciplines, each of them highly skilled and continually evolving. The fact that we have been able to create a single engineering hub across these sub divisions, and continue our impressive growth, is emblematic of the outstanding company culture I am already starting to experience.”

The Group now operates from 12 regional offices and over 40 client resident sites across the UK and Ireland and its manufacturing capacity exceeds 200,000ft².

Part of Mr Smith’s new role will involve overseeing the implementation of increased sustainability and decarbonisation strategies, reflecting both Adi’s company commitments and increasing demand for environmentally sound engineering solutions, to expand operations further.

Mr Lusty added: “Paul has an impressive background in delivering green projects, and as the industry is increasingly shaped by the reduction of carbon production and operational efficiency, Paul will keep us at the forefront of providing cleaner engineering solutions.”

He concluded: “Growth and sustainability must be aligned but can be difficult to execute. However, in combination with our 14 managing directors, we can advance what is already a considerable drive to leading reduced carbon projects. Further capture and implementation of these opportunities mean the future of Adi and the industry looks very bright.”