Engineering consultancy Arup appoints Craig Forrest as Canada leader

17 April 2019 Consulting.ca

Global design and engineering consultancy Arup has named Craig Forrest as the leader of its Canadian operations.

Founded in London in 1946, Arup is one of the world’s largest engineering consultancies, with 16,000 global employees, including 1,700 in the Americas. Over the course of seven decades, the built environment specialist has worked on projects in more than 160 countries.

Arup opened its first Canadian office in 1999, and today has more than 320 employees in locations in Toronto and Montreal. The firm’s Canadian offices have seen strong organic growth in recent years, with Arup further projecting approximately 20% growth for 2019. The firm has completed many notable projects in Canada, including the structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering work on the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum.

The consultancy has now appointed company veteran Craig Forrest as its Canada Group leader effective April 1. Forrest, who has been with Arup for 12 years, was most recently the global leader of its business and investor advisory practice, which is based out of London. Forrest brings more than 24 years of experience in infrastructure advisory, tackling projects across energy, aviation, water, transport, and cities to his new role as the head of Arup in Canada. He will be based out of the Toronto office.

Forrest takes over from Andrew McAlpine, who will remain at Arup as a principal.

"We are excited to welcome Craig to the Toronto office as we continue to grow our business and investor advisory work throughout Canada," Andy Howard, chair of Arup Americas, said. "Craig's track record of providing owners, operators, and investors with strategic market and financial advice combined with his deep technical knowledge positions him well to champion Arup's growing influence in Canada."

Forrest joined Arup in 2007 as the commercial director of its infrastructure practice in Europe. Before that, he was a general manager at Rolls Royce Power Ventures, where he oversaw the development, construction, project financing, and operation of investments across the EMEA region. Forrest started his engineering consulting career at Mott MacDonald.

"I am honored to be joining the Canadian team at this exciting moment as the region is poised to achieve significant growth," Forrest said. "The Canadian market is experiencing robust levels of public and private sector investment, and I am confident Arup will continue to deliver a broadening spectrum of highly valued services to our clients to help them conceive, plan and deliver important projects of all types."