The last boss of failed construction giant Carillion has been handed a new role as chairman of Score Group.
Keith Cochrane now leads the Peterhead-based engineering company’s boardroom team, which also includes chief executive Nelson Ritchie, deputy managing director Conrad Ritchie, finance director Anita McRobbie, commercial director Ian Davidson and operations director Ian Cheyne.
Mr Cochrane, 53, was at the helm of Carillion as interim chief executive when it went bust earlier this year, owing more than £1.5 billion.
He and his fellow directors at Carillion received scathing criticism of their management of the business in a report by MPs in May, while he was also at the centre of a controversy over his role advising the Scotland Office.
Confirming Mr Cochrane’s appointment as non-executive chairman at Score, Conrad Ritchie said: “We welcome Keith on board and look forward to his input.”
The firm’s new chairman has an impressive CV, with the first-class honours graduate and chartered accountant having led Scottish transport giant Stagecoach Group as chief executive from 2000-02 and Glasgow-based engineering company Weir Group, also as CEO, for seven years.
He quit Weir in September 2016, by which time he was already senior non-executive director at Aberdeen city bypass road partner Carillion.
A hasty exit for boss Richard Howson as trading Carillion’s prospects tanked, along with its shares, paved the way for Mr Cochrane to take the hotseat in July last year.
Carillion’s collapse caused thousands of job losses and left the two remaining Aberdeen bypass partners, Galliford Try and Balfour Beatty, nursing extra costs.
Mr Cochrane was appointed as lead non-executive director at the Scotland Office in December 2015 but stepped aside amid ongoing inquiries into Carillion.