Sir Kirby Laing, who died aged 92 on 12 April, 2009, was a British businessman whose expertise helped expand his family’s civil engineering firm into exciting new areas.

Under his stewardship, John Laing plc, which his father Sir John Laing had transformed from a small building company in Carlisle into one of the country’s leading construction groups, developed its construction of property, power stations, roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects, helping it stay as one of the leaders in its field.

He formed a formidable partnership with his brother Sir Maurice Laing and they split the business between the construction and property concerns.

Sir Kirby was chairman of the Laing Group from 1956 to 1976, when he handed over the reigns to Maurice. He served as deputy chairman until 1980. He also served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1973 and 1974 and was an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

William Kirby Laing was born in Carlisle on 21 July, 1916. During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Engineers and was a lieutenant in the Territorial Army Reserve until 1955.

By this time he had learnt the family trade on such large-scale projects as the building of the M1. His father retired from business in the mid ’50s and the family tradition of the company continued when Sir Kirby’s son Martin became chairman in 1985.

Sir Kirby Laing was knighted in 1968 for his services to the construction industry. His firm was known for its apprenticeship programme and Sir Kirby was also known for being an enthusiastic patron of the arts, founding the annual Laing painting award.

He was survived by his second wife, Isobel, and three sons.