Finning International announced Tim Ferwerda, current managing director of Finning U.K. and Ireland, will take over as president of Finning Canada. David Primrose, current president of Finning Canada, will assume the role of executive vice president and chief development officer.
Jane Murdoch, currently executive vice president, chief development and legal officer, will proceed with her planned retirement in early 2025. Gary Megarrell, current director of construction industries in the UK and Ireland, will assume the role of managing director of Finning U.K. and Ireland. Ferwerda, Primrose and Megarrell will assume their new roles effective January 1, 2025, and report to Kevin Parkes, president and CEO of Finning.
Ferwerda was appointed as managing director of Finning U.K. and Ireland in 2021. Before that, he was director of sales, marketing and distribution for Finning U.K. and Ireland. Before joining Finning in 2016, Tim spent 19 years at Pilkington/NSG Group in progressively senior positions in sales, after-market and supply chain.
“We are excited to welcome Tim to our Canadian operations to reinforce our growth and resilience plans,” said Parkes. “Tim has led our U.K. and Ireland operations to capture large infrastructure opportunities, optimized our global digital strategy and built greater resiliency into our U.K. and Ireland operations. His high energy style, strong Caterpillar relationships and robust execution capabilities will be key to meeting today’s challenges and accelerating our growth strategy.”
Primrose, president of Finning Canada, has held several senior management roles in Canada, the U.K., and Ireland for the past 36 years. He has held executive leadership roles in human resources, mining, and construction in Canada, as chief human resources officer and, as the managing director of Finning U.K. and Ireland.
“Since assuming the president of Finning Canada position in 2021, Dave has focused our operations on service excellence and led the Canadian business through a period of significant growth,” said Parkes. “Given his strong history across our business in multiple geographies and senior leadership roles, Dave is well positioned to assume the chief development officer position with a seamless transition of business support functions.”
Murdoch retires
Murdoch joined Finning in 2016 after more than 25 years at a national law firm and a leading Western Canadian regional law firm, where she practiced business and securities law. During her time at Finning, she has been general counsel, corporate secretary, chief human resources officer, and most recently, executive vice president and chief development and legal officer.
“Jane has played a critical role in leading our legal, sustainability and people and culture functions during significant board and management succession and business transformation,” said Parkes. “Jane played an exceptional leadership role during the COVID-19 period and has been instrumental in championing strong governance that will leave a lasting impact on the organization. We are grateful for her efforts, contributions, and partnership during her time at Finning, and we wish her the very best as she transitions into retirement.”
Megarrell was appointed director of construction industries for Finning U.K. and Ireland in 2023 and, prior to that, director of power systems for Finning U.K. and Ireland since 2020. He has 25 years of experience with Finning and predecessor companies.
“Gary is a thoughtful and engaging leader with significant experience in regional construction and power markets. He has been pivotal in building our power systems team and capabilities in the U.K. and Ireland and is the natural successor for Tim’s role,” Parkes said. “The changes we are announcing today are part of our thoughtfully developed succession plan and a testament to the deep bench of leadership we have at Finning. We believe these changes will accelerate the execution of our strategic plan and position Finning for our next phase of growth.”
Finning is the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer. Headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia, it provides Caterpillar equipment, equipment rental, parts, services, and performance solutions in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Finning is No. 20 on the RER 100.
