Sydney, Australia – Kerryn Coker and Kate West have been appointed as new co-Chairs for Arup in Australasia, and Murray Kretschmer as Chief Operating Officer, with plans to enhance the firm’s focus on sustainable development including climate services. Kate and Kerryn will succeed Peter Chamley who is retiring after a distinguished career in global senior management and as the leader of highly complex infrastructure projects. Murray takes over from Bruce Tanner who will move to a new executive role after seven years as COO. Committed to leading with social purpose and driving positive change in the industry and with clients, Kate and Kerryn said their ambition is to help shape and create more resilient, liveable places with an end-to-end approach to sustainable development.                                                                                                             

“Every country in the region is facing significant, complex challenges. We want to engage more deeply with our growing number of like-minded clients and partners as advisers and creators of great design which can reduce carbon, offer clean energy solutions, minimise waste, create resilience to shocks and stresses and provide lasting social value,” said Kerryn and Kate.                                                            

“We are no longer ‘a firm of engineers’. We are a consulting firm of specialists covering more than 90 disciplines. We are economists, digital technicians, climate, sustainability, energy and water specialists, technical advisers, asset managers, urban planners and architects as well as engineers; we are larger and more diverse, and our strength is being able to work as one innovative integrated Arup,” said Murray.

• Kerryn is leading the implementation of Arup’s Sustainable Development Strategy in Australasia and is a member of the Global Sustainable Development Executive. With a background in façade engineering, she has successfully delivered complex projects and led multidisciplinary teams in the UK and Sydney. Most recently the Leader of the NSW Buildings Group, she is an advocate for diverse teams and received the Consult Australia Champions of Change Female Leadership Award in 2019.
• Kate has led the successful Consulting Group in Western Australia for four years, following a career with Arup based in Melbourne, the UK, Ireland and most recently Perth. A structural engineer with a Master’s in Architecture, Kate is a passionate STEM advocate. In 2017 she received the Crystal Vision Award from the National Association for Women in Construction and in 2018 she was awarded the 40U40 Business Leaders Award in WA from Business News.
• Murray is the Australasia Infrastructure Leader, respected for his industry knowledge, business expertise and ethos of inclusive and accountable leadership. A civil engineer, he has delivered innovative solutions with a focus on sustainability and renewable energy within complex infrastructure projects across the region and in China, the UK and Ireland.