Sir John Martin Kirby Laing (18 January 1942 – 27 December 2023) was a British businessman in the construction industry.
The John Laing construction business was considered one of the blue-riband contractors of its day, having built high-profile schemes including the Second Severn Crossing, the Barbican Centre and the Sizewell B nuclear power station, and its sale was expected to fetch upwards of £100m.
However, the business was facing a series of losses, eventually totalling £200m, on several jobs including Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, the National Physical Laboratory, a disastrous PFI scheme in Teddington, west London, and No 1 Poultry in the City of London.
[5] John Laing subsequently sold its property and housing businesses to Kier Group and Wimpey in 2002, becoming an infrastructure investment business before eventually being acquired by US private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 2021.
[5] In the Sunday Times Rich List 2008 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK, Martin Laing was placed 472nd with an estimated fortune of £175 million.