Daniel Cooper has been appointed chief executive officer of Hanson UK, replacing Patrick O’Shea, who stepped down at Christmas after eight years at the head of the construction materials business.

Daniel was previously northern regional general manager for Hanson Australia. He graduated from Murdoch University in Perth with a double major in commerce and economics and joined Pioneer Concrete in Australia in 1993. Hanson acquired Pioneer in 2000 and Daniel held a number of operational, commercial and customer service management roles including regional general manager for Western Australia.

Patrick O’Shea joined Hanson PLC in 1990 and held a variety of senior financial and operational roles before becoming managing director of Hanson Aggregates UK in June 2004. When Hanson PLC was acquired by HeidelbergCement Group in 2007, Patrick was appointed CEO of the combined UK business, which brought together Hanson’s aggregates and building products operations with HeidelbergCement’s Castle Cement business.