Martin is a highly experienced executive within the UK construction industry and previously held the position of strategic business development director at FTSE 250 specialist contractor Severfield plc.

 During his time in this role, Martin was involved in setting company strategy and vision whilst managing M&A activity from opportunity generation to completion and integration. Prior to his role at Severfield, Martin worked within KPMG’s team of Construction and Infrastructure experts and, more recently, has been providing leadership counsel to a range of UK construction and engineering businesses.

Martin’s announcement now completes the leadership team at Embrace following the appointments of Ross McAdam as its new CFO in January and Matt Gibson as COO who joined the business last year. Embrace has acquired two heritage British steel brands since its inception; Hambleton Steel (acquired in 2022) and Shufflebottom (acquired in April 2024) with plans to become a key player in the UK steel and construction sector via making operational improvement throughout its existing group and by identifying strategic M&A opportunities.

On starting his new role at Embrace, Martin Kelly said: “I’m absolutely delighted to become part of this entrepreneurial and acquisitive group at the early stages of growth. I’m confident that Embrace will become a major player in the UK steel industry and I look forward to helping the business realise this ambition.

“We have two exciting and complimentary businesses within our existing portfolio and I look forward to sharing my extensive experience of working across the Construction Industry and related sectors to help unlock significant value opportunities for the businesses.”

Embrace’s chairman, Richard Whiting, added: “We are thrilled to welcome Martin to the Embrace team. Martin truly understands the width and breadth of the industry and his senior level experience at leading UK steel and construction businesses will stand us in great stead as we grow the Embrace group over the coming years.”