Peter McGettrick

UK Managing Director, Advisory

Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.

Portrait of Peter McGettrick, Managing Director, Advisory, standing in office kitchen space against light brown chair.

As Managing Director of Advisory, I’m responsible for a team focused on driving improved performance throughout the life cycle of our clients' projects, portfolios, programmes and operations, and providing insight to solve some of their biggest challenges.

My team covers a range of services from business case development, dispute resolution and carbon accounting, to risk management, intelligent procurement and health and safety assurance.

With our track record of delivering some of the government’s most ambitious sustainability programmes, I continuously look at ways to best leverage expertise across the advisory team, blending their skill sets and helping to maximise our client’s goals to decarbonise at scale.

I graduated from university with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Environmental Management and Safety, both of which I have been able to put into practise throughout my career. I am a Chartered Safety Practitioner by background, starting out on audit and compliance consultancy in the private sector.

Then I moved onto various major transformation and business improvement programmes with organisations such as the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), BBC and Southampton City Council. In addition to my technical qualifications, I also have an MBA and the latter part of my career has been focused more so on business management and growth through my leadership roles on multi-disciplinary teams.

Career highlights

Appointed Chair of The British Safety Council
2021
Appointed Trustee of The British Safety Council
2018
Promoted to Managing Director, Advisory
2018
Joined Turner & Townsend to lead the safety, health and quality team
2016
Achieved Chartered Status
2006

Q. What attracted you to join Turner & Townsend?

A. Looking back, I was attracted by the ambition of the leadership and the values of the organisation which I believed were aligned to mine. I always remember the UK Managing Director at the time telling me during an interview that he wanted people to join Turner & Townsend for a career rather than a role. Reflecting on the past eight years, we really do live and breathe those sentiments as an organisation.

Q. How has your career at Turner and Townsend developed?

A. I joined Turner & Townsend in 2016 to lead the Safety, Health and Quality arm of the business and was able to organise the team to achieve significant growth within my first two years. I was then promoted to my current role as Managing Director of Advisory.

Q. Which project are you most proud of being involved in at Turner & Townsend?

A. I am proud to have been able to start a sustainability consultancy within my advisory division which has grown to a team serving a range of clients in the private and public sector. Through our work delivering some of the largest sustainability programmes we have been able to help landlords and local authorities in England to secure more than £1.5bn in grant funding to enable over 135,000 retrofits, resulting in greener, affordable and healthier homes.

Q. How do you contribute to Turner & Townsend making a difference?

A. The sustainability work we do really makes a difference, not only in terms of carbon reduction but also the social benefits, such as taking vulnerable people out of fuel poverty, which makes such a difference to the communities we work in.

Q. Detail any specialist skills or experience for which you are known

A. I’m a Chartered Safety Professional and Registered Access Consultant and have experience in major transformation and business improvement programmes with organisations such as DWP, BBC, Southampton City Council, Mobile Broadband Network Limited and Transport for London. In additional to my technical qualifications, I also have an MBA and the latter part of my career has been focused more so on business management and growth.

Q. Describe your typical day.

A. No two days are the same, and that's what makes it so exciting. If I were to boil it down, I'd say it involves a lot of interacting with people. I spend a good chunk of my time in meetings with colleagues or clients to understand their challenges and guiding them towards solutions.

Q. What do you most enjoy most about working at Turner & Townsend?

A. The diversity of work we have across the business and the ability to make a real impact, not just in our industry but across society in the markets we operate within.

Q. What is the emerging trend in your industry specialism and how are you responding to this?

A. It’s important that we harness the power of digital within the portfolio of capabilities we offer as a business and the use of data to support informed decision making. The launch of our embodied carbon calculator is a good example of us developing digital products to enhance our offer.

Q. Do you hold any industry positions?

A. I’m the Chair of The British Safety Council, one of the world’s leading health and safety organisations. The British Safety Council believes no one should be injured or made ill through their work and raises awareness and improves standards of workplace safety across the world.

Although it’s a voluntary position, it’s an important role as 7,500 people still die every day across the world due to unsafe working conditions so, in addition to leading the organisation, I spend time travelling overseas to champion improvements in the regions where it is most needed.