Mr Clamp joins Breedon from Heidelberg Cement, where he was health & safety director for the company’s Africa & Eastern Mediterranean Basin Region. He was previously senior safety, health & environment (SHE) manager at Hanson PLC, prior to which he served as head of safety at National Express Limited.

The earlier part of his career was spent in a number of quarry management and SHE roles with Lafarge.

Mr Clamp will assume overall responsibility for the health and safety of Breedon’s 3,000-strong workforce, as well as overseeing the group’s environmental and sustainability activities.

Pat Ward, Breedon’s group chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have been able to attract such a highly experienced health and safety professional to Breedon. Nigel has spent nearly 20 years in senior SHE positions in our industry and we look forward to him helping us take our safety engagement to new levels, whilst bringing a valuable fresh perspective to our environmental and sustainability agenda.”