Sir William "Kirby" Laing DL JP FREng (21 July 1916 – 12 April 2009) was a British civil engineer.
[5] During the Second World War Laing served in the Royal Engineers, receiving his commission as a Second lieutenant on 2 January 1944.
[4] Whilst leading the company Laing built on their experience of power station and housing construction and expanded into road building.
[4] In 1968 Kirby had been elected a first class member of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers and would serve as their president in 1988.
He was also president of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers and of the London Master Builders Association.
[4] Laing was made a knight bachelor on 8 June 1968, an honour which was conferred on him by Queen Elizabeth II on 5 November 1968.