Gatwick finance boss takes off for infrastructure provider CityFibre
Gatwick Airport’s finance chief is reportedly leaving after a decade to join infrastructure provider CityFibre Holdings.
Nick Dunn is set to be named chief financial officer of the Goldman Sachs-backed CityFibre next week, according to Sky News.
Dunn joined Gatwick from Anglo American in 2010, where he was general manager of corporate finance. Before that he worked for Centrica in a number of finance roles, including director of group M&A, finance director for Centrica Energy and finance director for British Gas Business.
His departure will be a blow to Gatwick which has struggled with waning demand amid the pandemic. In August it reported a £32m loss in the first half of the year after a 66 per cent drop in passenger numbers.
The airport said it expects its 2020 calendar year passenger numbers to be 65-70 per cent lower than 2019 levels (46.6m), but warned traffic would not return to 2019 levels until 2024. Gatwick added it would cut approximately 600 jobs, a quarter of its workforce.
Dunn is leaving for a company benefiting from a boom in investment in infrastructure. CityFibre recently appointed engineering firm Bechtel to prepare projects covering £1.5bn in construction contracts.
The telecoms group, which was acquired by TalkTalk’s Fibre Nation arm earlier this year, is also engaged in a £4bn network rollout programme.
Over the summer it announced a 10,000 jobs boost as part of its efforts to upgrade the UK’s digital infrastructure to full fibre.
The recruitment drive will target those now unemployed as a result of the pandemic and service-leavers. There will also be job opportunities for qualified and experienced telecoms workers.
Gatwick Airport was contacted for comment. CityFibre could not be reached for comment.