 A long-serving Kier engineer, John Mott, was appointed chief executive in order to revive the group's fortunes.Following an abortive bid for Abbey in 1985, French Kier itself was the subject of a hotly contested bid by Beazer, which eventually succeeded in January 1986.Five years later (1991) Hanson plc bought Beazer plc and made an early decision to dispose of the contracting arm, now known simply as Kier.