It may have been someone else's return to office making international headlines this week, but John Morgan's decision to return to the day to day running of Morgan Sindall has nonetheless sent tongues racing in construction. The change - which will see Morgan move from his role as executive chairman to chief executive and was announced alongside the resignation of current incumbent Paul Smith - comes a week after Building revealed the contractor is to close a series of regional offices. That the turbulence has its roots in tough ongoing market conditions is clear - although Morgan has been at pains to stress that some of the company's sectors are performing well, the latest announcement was accompanied by an acknowledgement that underlying trading would be "slightly below" previous expectations. Morgan also said plainly that the changes were a matter of reshaping the company to suit the markets in which it is performing strongest - which include infrastructure and regeneration.
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