Atkins hires Zoe Metcalfe as government client director

Zoe Metcalfe has become Client Director for Local and Central Government with Atkins in the UK. She brings almost two decades of senior experience to the role.

Speaking on the news, James Rose, Market Director for Cities & Development at Atkins, noted, “Zoe’s appointment will help us continue to build this and lead the way on important issues such as post pandemic recovery, social value, de-carbonisation, net zero and health and wellbeing.”

From increased urbanisation and net zero to the wake-up call of Covid-19 and the biodiversity crisis, the UK’s local and national governments are looking to take urgent action to mitigate the risks to the country’s infrastructure and its communities. Owned by SNC-Lavalin, Atkins is an engineering consultancy boasting a notable track record of delivering significant projects across both central and local government clients.

In her new role, Zoe Metcalfe will help grow Atkins’ central and local government portfolio, driving the company’s client engagement strategy across the UK and optimising the potential from the company’s people, new technologies, research and innovation to deliver impacts at scale that benefit clients, society and the environment. Ultimately, she said in a statement that her aim is to assist Atkins’ clients in finding new investment streams, directly linked to the social and environmental benefits their projects provide.

She added on her appointment, “This is an exciting time for infrastructure, but only if we can converge visionary thinking into new business models hard wired in credible evidence.”

Metcalfe joins Atkins from Ethos Wilder, a venture she co-founded with EthosVO during the pandemic. The organisation works to help scale up the health and wellbeing benefits from nature and agricultural regeneration, using data and innovative funding with finance models.

Prior to this, Metcalfe spent four years with Arup, managing the Consulting West business as well as contributing to Arup’s sustainability strategy, while the six years before that saw her work as Global Aviation Director for Buro Happold. She is a member of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and Chair of the South West Advisory Board for the National Trust.