IN Brief:
- Chris Wozencroft will lead commercial activity across Burns & McDonnell's Scottish portfolio from Glasgow.
- His remit includes SSEN Transmission projects, commercial processes, client relationships, and supply chain engagement.
- The appointment adds commercial management capacity as Scotland's transmission construction programme expands.
Burns & McDonnell has appointed Chris Wozencroft as commercial manager for Scotland, adding commercial leadership to its growing transmission and distribution workload across the country. Based in the company’s Glasgow office, Wozencroft will lead commercial activities across its Scottish portfolio, with particular focus on projects for SSEN Transmission. His remit includes commercial processes, project-team support, relationships with clients and supply chain partners, and development of future project opportunities.
Wozencroft joins after five years as senior commercial manager at SPL Powerlines, where he supported Network Rail Scotland’s railway electrification and decarbonisation programme. His earlier work also covers Scottish water frameworks, mechanical and electrical contracting, and major construction projects, giving him experience across several infrastructure markets where programme control, change management, and subcontractor coordination are central to delivery.
Burns & McDonnell established its Scottish operation in 2022 as part of a wider UK expansion. The business now operates from Glasgow, Birmingham, and London, with its Scotland team working with electricity network operators and renewable developers on engineering and construction associated with grid expansion.
That growth has been accompanied by transmission and substation work rather than office expansion alone. Burns & McDonnell joined an SSEN Transmission engineering, procurement, and construction substations framework in 2023, covering design, engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning. The company was subsequently selected for further SSEN Transmission work as the network owner’s investment programme increased.
Transmission contracts place substantial demands on commercial teams because civil engineering, electrical installation, specialist equipment, protection and control, access, commissioning, and environmental packages have to progress through the same programme. Long procurement periods for transformers, switchgear, cables, and other equipment add another layer of cost and schedule exposure, particularly when several major schemes are drawing on overlapping suppliers and specialist labour.
Chris Wozencroft, commercial manager for Scotland at Burns & McDonnell, said: “The scale of investment planned across Scotland presents significant opportunities.” He said his focus would include supporting the company’s people, strengthening client relationships, and expanding its Scottish presence through successful project delivery.
The workload behind that appointment is substantial. SSEN Transmission is progressing a £29 billion investment programme across the north of Scotland, encompassing new substations, transmission lines, high-voltage direct-current links, reinforcement works, and the infrastructure required to connect new generation. Its programme also includes a proposed £150 million high-voltage training centre at Thainstone, intended to increase the number of employees and contractor personnel able to work on an enlarged transmission system.
Burns & McDonnell has been adding technical and operational management around the same market. Earlier in 2026, Gareth James joined as UK head of civils for Transmission & Distribution, while Sean McHugh was appointed UK T&D operations manager. Wozencroft’s role adds a dedicated commercial function to that structure as project activity increases.
Transmission construction is increasingly organised through multi-project programmes rather than isolated schemes. A contractor may have substation civils, electrical installation, equipment procurement, cable routes, access works, and commissioning progressing concurrently at several locations, with each project carrying its own interfaces and contractual obligations. Commercial control therefore has to operate across a portfolio while still maintaining visibility of individual project cost, change, procurement, and supply chain performance.
Jason Chandler, UK Transmission & Distribution managing director at Burns & McDonnell, said Wozencroft brings “a wealth of commercial and infrastructure experience” alongside a record of supporting complex project delivery. His Scottish market experience also gives the business a commercial lead familiar with infrastructure clients and supply chains beyond electricity transmission.
Wozencroft’s rail background is particularly relevant to programme management. Electrification combines civil engineering, electrical systems, access planning, possessions, specialist plant, and tightly controlled interfaces, while regulated water frameworks introduce another set of long-term client and commercial requirements. Neither sector is identical to transmission construction, but both expose commercial teams to scope change, sequencing pressure, supplier performance, and programme risk.
Burns & McDonnell’s Scottish operation has consequently moved beyond establishing a local presence and into building the management capacity needed to support sustained delivery. Wozencroft joins while major transmission investments are progressing through design, procurement, and construction, putting commercial control alongside engineering and operations as a practical constraint on how quickly that workload can be delivered.
