Samir Brikho

Samir Brikho

Samir Brikho at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2010
Born Samir Yacoub Brikho
(1958-05-03) 3 May 1958
Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality Swedish/Swiss
Education Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, INSEAD and Stanford
Occupation Businessman
Title UK Business Ambassador, and former Chief Executive, Amec Foster Wheeler
Term 2006-2016

Samir Yacoub Brikho FREng[1] (born 3 May 1958), was Chief Executive of Amec Foster Wheeler, one of the UK's largest consultancy, engineering, project management and construction management businesses.

Biography

Born in Beirut in 1958,[2] Brikho is Lebanese by birth but his family later moved to Sweden where he holds citizenship. Brikho holds a Master of Science degree in Thermal Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.[2] He is also a graduate of the Young Managers Programme at INSEAD[3] and the Senior Executive Programme at Stanford University.[3]

Brikho held various senior management positions at Asea and ABB Power Generation between 1983 and 2000, ultimately becoming a Senior Vice President & Global Managing Director, Steam Turbines & Generators, ABB Kraftwerke AG in Germany.[2] In 2000 he moved to Alstom where he was Chief International Operations Officer and Senior Vice-President, and CEO of Alstom Kraftwerke in Germany.[2]

In 2003 he became Chief Executive of ABB Lummus Global and in 2005 he became a member of the Group Executive Committee of ABB Ltd, Head of the Power Systems Division at ABB Group.[2]

He went on to be Chief Executive of Amec Foster Wheeler (formerly Amec) in October 2006.[2] During his tenure at Amec Foster Wheeler, Brikho was widely credited with a major turnaround of the company.[4] The company's share price rose from under 400 pence when he assumed the role of CEO in October 2006, to over 1,200 pence in June 2014.[5] At the beginning of his tenure, Brikho also secured the confidence of the board in rejecting a £1.5bn, or 450p a share, cash takeover offer from private equity groups Texas Pacific and First Reserve Corporation.[6] In December 2007, the company was moved from its ranking within the FTSE 250 Index to the FTSE 100 Index, a promotion which was credited to Brikho's streamlining of the business, and a number of major divestments which left £600m of cash in the company, and over £1bn of capital for acquisition.[6] He served until 18 January 2016 when he stepped down after being criticized heavily from the specialized press, and with the share price sitting again at 400p, and was succeeded by Ian McHoul, the Chief Financial Officer, on interim basis.[7]

Awards and commendations

On 16 October 2009, Brikho was presented with the Medal of Honour for Industrial Service by South Korean President Myung-bak Lee for his contributions to enhance economic competitiveness in Korea through successful completion of the Incheon Bridge project.[8]

In February 2010, Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Brikho as a UK Business Ambassador to support the Government in promoting the UK's excellence internationally.[9] He was again appointed a UK Business Ambassador under David Cameron's coalition government in November 2010.[10]

In July 2013 Mr Brikho was elected as a Fellow[1] of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[11] In June 2015, Brikho received an honorary doctorate from Cranfield University.[12]

Other affiliations

Brikho is a non-executive director of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.[13] He was chairman of the Offshore Europe 2011 Conference, the largest upstream oil and gas event outside North America.[14] He is a member of the Advisory Board of Stena AB.[15] Mr Brikho is the co-chair of the UK-UAE CEO Forum [16] and co-chair of the UK-Korea CEO Forum. [17]

He is a founding member of the Palestine International Business Forum, a body formed to promote trade and business relations between Israeli and Palestinian private sectors and the International business community.[3] Samir is also a director of the United Kingdom-Japan 21st Century Group,[18] a member of the advisory board of LIFE Lebanon[19] and a member of the advisory board of the School of Oriental and African Studies.[3] Brikho was chair of the UK Energy Excellence Strategy Board,[20] from May 2008 to May 2010, which was tasked by the UK Government with demonstrating the UK's world-leading position in energy. Brikho was the 2009 Chair of the World Economic Forum's Engineering and Construction Board, has held the role of chair of the World Economic Forum’s Disaster Resource Partnership and is currently co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Infrastructure & Urban Development Industries Committee.[21] Further, Brikho is Chairman and co-founder of the StepChange Foundation.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 "List of Fellows".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Samir Brikho: If we provide excellence the profits will follow The Independent, 15 December 2007
  3. 1 2 3 4 "ukenergyexcellence.com". Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "CITY INTERVIEW: War zone childhood gave Amec boss edge". This is Money. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Google". Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Yesterday's trading: Amec joins FTSE 100". This is Money. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Reuters Editorial (18 January 2016). "Amec Foster Wheeler says CEO Brikho steps down". Reuters UK. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Amec builds bridge into Korean energy". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "UKTI Business Ambassadors".
  10. ↑ Jason Hesse. "List of the Coalition's business ambassadors". realbusiness.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "News and Publications - News Release". Raeng.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  12. ↑ "Samir Brikho - Chief Executive - Amec Foster Wheeler". amecfw.com. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken
  14. ↑ Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition 2011
  15. ↑ Stena AB
  16. ↑ UK-UAE CEO Forum
  17. ↑ "UK-Korea CEO Forum". Asia House. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  18. ↑ United Kingdom-Japan 21st Century Group
  19. ↑ "LIFE". lifelebanon.com. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  20. ↑ "ukenergyexcellence.com". Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "IU-Infrastructure & Urban Development". IU-Infrastructure & Urban Development - World Economic Forum. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  22. ↑ Stepchange Foundation
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