Fran was employed in the UK Nuclear industry for 35 years and is a highly respected, nuclear professional.

Initially training to become a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, his experience and technical ability quickly developed to positions where he was responsible for the delivery of practical solutions to complex nuclear problems, in accordance with essential engineering and regulatory standards. A move into Project and Programme management, resulted in Fran taking overall responsibility for delivering decommissioning solutions for some of the most hazardous nuclear facilities in Europe, maintenance of generating nuclear power stations and providing facilities to support the UK Continuous at Sea Deterrent.

In 2014, Fran joined Cavendish Nuclear (a wholly owned subsidiary of Babcock International) where he progressed into a business delivery role. As Civil Nuclear Decommissioning Director, Fran was fully accountable for the nuclear safety culture, capability, safety performance, reputation, and profitability of one of the largest nuclear delivery capabilities in the UK.

It was Fran’s broad ranging technical, project delivery and business experience that led Babcock to appoint him as the Managing Director of the Australian Nuclear Business in 2023 to develop a capability to support the AUKUS endeavour.

With the establishment of Babcock’s joint venture with HII in 2024, Fran took up the role of Chief Operating Officer where he is responsible for the operational outputs of the company.