Her car left the carriageway and hit a lamppost and slid down a grass embankment at about 6.45am on the A369 Martcombe Road, near Bristol.

Blackman received treatment at the scene but sadly died shortly afterwards.

Chairman Ray O’Rourke said he was greatly saddened by Caroline Blackman’s untimely death and described her as a highly-regarded senior director.

He said: “Having spent almost two decades with the business, Caroline was most recently our human capital director at Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

“Not only was she highly respected by all who worked with her, she was fulfilling one of our most important posts, in helping to fully resource, manage and operate one of our biggest joint venture projects.

O’Rourke said: “Caroline will be known to many, in our offices, projects and sites across the UK and further afield, as a bright, lively and committed member of our leadership team, and as someone who was very progressive in her agenda.

“She played a key role in our London Olympics delivery partner consortium CLM, and took those learnings to Australia to help us win the W2B Pacific Highway partnership.

“We will be doing whatever we can to support Caroline’s family.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this sad time.”