Speight worked on the Hinkley project for more than seven years, initially as head of pre-construction planning and in the last four years as head of civil construction.

Before he was senior project manager for Lendlease on the London 2012 Olympics Athletes Village.

Speight joins as project delivering director for Heathrow Airport expansion at a crucial time.

He brings in senior construction and pre-construction management experience as the airport gears up to begin construction in 2021, with the aim of bringing the third runway into operation by 2026.

Heathrow will be the first major infrastructure project in the UK to pioneer the large-scale use of Logistics Hubs – aiming to build as much of the project offsite as possible.

He will be involved in the selection of four new construction hubs this autumn from 18 potential sites presently left in the running.