Alison Cox’s career with Sir Robert McAlpine started as a sponsored student and she has worked her way up to become their first female MD, for the London region. SRM is a family-owned construction and civil engineering business; the London region has a turnover of around £800m and employs around 850 people. Alison has over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry and has established a reputation as an exceptional professional, a leader and a driver of technical excellence.
The early part of Alison’s career was spent in engineering roles on a variety of projects including the Jubilee Line Extension, wind farms and commercial office buildings. She had an extended career break of 9 years whilst her three children were young and her husband’s job took them overseas, spending time in the US, the Netherlands and Italy. This stimulated a keen interest in different cultures and how to build an exceptional team by combining people’s strengths. Returning to the UK, and to SRM, Alison put this into practice in leadership roles on two large projects: Bloomberg and Battersea Power Station.
She then moved to a business leadership role as Director of Engineering for SRM for 2 years before returning to London as MD in August 2021.
Alison is a Chartered Civil Engineer, and Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Chartered Institute of Building. Outside work she is often found on the river, training and competing as a Masters rower.
