Wates announces restructure

Construction group Wates has announced a restructure designed to help integrate its recent acquisition of Shepherd’s construction business and Purchase Group, as well as help power its expansion towards its target of becoming a £2bn business.

Wates has reorganised its businesses to sit within its three key market sectors - Construction, Property Services and Residential Developments.

Part of this realignment sees the formation of a Construction Group business which, in addition to the construction divisions, now incorporates SES engineering services and also the Group’s overall BIM and Design function. The expanded Construction Group business will be led by Dave Smith, group managing director, Construction Group, and chief operating officer for Wates Group.

The second move comes as a result of a change in the way the government is tackling the housing crisis. This follows the move to develop more affordable housing and the requirement with this for more schemes to require investment funding.

To address this, Wates has moved the housing business that has traditionally sat within Wates Living Space to now form part of the expanded Wates Residential Developments business. This business will be led by David Brocklebank, as Group Managing Director, Residential Development Group. Jo Jamieson will lead the Wates Living Space Homes business as part of the group reporting to David.

Finally, Living Space Maintenance will be a standalone business within Wates Group and will be headed up by David Morgan.

Andrew Davies (pictured), Wates chief executive, said: “This is an exciting time for our business. In the last 12 months we have made two significant acquisitions which have given us the opportunity to enter into new markets and expand our capabilities.

“We have ambitious growth targets set for the years ahead and we want to continue to enjoy the success we have seen over the last year, but with this we realise as a business we need to adapt and change to meet the new market conditions and also challenge ourselves in the way we work, in order to ensure we are a robust and highly efficient business.”