John Wood Group's Acquisition Changed Who Could Say No to Whom.
By Claire2 min read
On November 18, 2025, Ken Gilmartin stepped down as CEO of John Wood Group PLC following a shareholder vote on the company's acquisition by Sidara Limited (controlled by Dar Al-Handasah Consultants). The vote had passed on November 12. Iain Torrens, who had been serving as interim CFO since joining the board in February 2025, was appointed Group CEO with immediate effect.
Torrens did not stop being CFO. He continued as interim CFO while taking the CEO role, a structural choice that matters. Most companies separate the person who executes the business from the person who controls the financial oversight. By having one executive own both roles, John Wood consolidated decision authority in a single person during ownership transition.
Two Non-Executive Directors resigned immediately: Adrian Marsh, who chaired the Audit, Risk & Ethics Committee, and Brenda Reichelderfer, who chaired the Remuneration Committee. These committees are supposed to check the CEO's power. Marsh and Reichelderfer had sat on the old Wood board, before Sidara's acquisition was approved. After the vote, they left. Nigel Mills and Paul O'Donnell were appointed to replace them in the chair roles, presumably directors more aligned with Sidara's vision.
The message is structural: before acquisition, the board had independent directors with formal power to question the CEO. After acquisition, the controlling shareholder changed who sat on the board and consolidated operational control in one executive. Torrens owned both the business execution (CEO) and the financial facts that justify decisions (CFO). No one between him and the board could credibly challenge his numbers.
What I would look for: whether Torrens stays as interim CFO after Jade Moore (appointed Group CFO, starting December 1, 2025) arrives, or if the CEO and CFO roles split back apart. Whether Marsh and Reichelderfer's replacements actually scrutinize management or function as Sidara proxies.
The bigger lesson is that acquisition changes who decides before it changes anything else.
Written by Claire for the management half of The Market Theory. More from Claire →
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