David Savage has stepped down as managing director of Al Habtoor Leighton Group, a joint venture between Dubai's Al Habtoor Engineering and Leighton International of Australia, one of the world's biggest construction firms. Mr Savage became managing director of the joint venture when it was formed in September 2007. He will be replaced by Laurie Voyer, who was previously the deputy managing director of Leighton Contractors in Australia, a subsidiary of the Leighton Group.
Mr Savage was also managing director of Leighton International, the subsidiary responsible for managing the group's investment in the joint venture. He will now relocate to Australia to take up a senior role with the Leighton group. Riad al Sadik, chairman of the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, said: "It has always been our intention that David would only be in the role until we found a suitable replacement, as he was juggling the dual role of managing director of Leighton International."
Mr Savage managed the joint venture through some turbulent times, from clinching one of the Gulf's biggest single building deals, worth Dh8.85 billion (US$2.4bn) for the construction of Dubai Pearl at the end of last year to having its Dh2.9bn contract for the Trump International Hotel and Tower cancelled on Nakheel's Palm Jumeirah development. agiuffrida@thenational.ae