Wates

Housing secretary Michael Gove has doubled down on the government’s commitment to require second staircases in high-rise residential schemes – lowering the proposed threshold from 30 metres to 18 metres. In recent months, a number of contractors have halted work on developments over worries arising from a government consultation to…

Wates once again has a female board member, after appointing a finance expert as a non-executive director. Chartered accountant Rachel Addison (pictured) will chair Wates’ group audit committee, overseeing financial reporting, processes and regulatory compliance. Addison is already a non-executive director of a handful of other companies, including housing developer…

Big names such as Kier, Wates and Morgan Sindall have secured spots on an £800m public sector building framework. Bam Construction, Bowmer & Kirkland, Brims Construction, Caddick Construction, Equans, Sir Robert McAlpine, Robertson and Tilbury Douglas are also among the 24 contractors – out of 34 proposed firms – to…

Wates has appointed former Balfour Beatty project director Matt Johnson as regional director for its construction business in the Midlands. Johnson brings more than 20 years’ experience within the construction industry, most recently as operations director for Wates in the Midlands. Before he joined Wates in 2022, he worked as…

Wates Property Services, Vinci Construction UK and the Eric Wright Group are among more than 60 companies to have secured places on a £305m public sector framework. The contractors have been selected to join Fusion21’s four-year refurbishment, construction, new-build and modular buildings framework. The framework was developed to help bodies…

Wates has agreed a new partnership with a charity to train nearly 400 people to help prevent suicide among young people. As part of the agreement with charity Papyrus, 90 Wates staff will receive training, while 300 people in the communities where the contractor works will be offered Applied Suicide…

A five-strong coalition of UK housing associations has appointed more than 100 firms to a £1.48bn framework to retrofit homes for energy efficiency.  The Greener Futures Partnership (GFP) – whose members Sanctuary, Hyde, Home Group, Anchor and Abri operate a combined total of around 300,000 homes – has named 107…

Wates has paused work on a high-rise site in Havering over what it has called “continued regulatory uncertainty” over the requirement for two staircases on all new residential buildings over 30 metres. The contractor had been developing the Waterloo and Queen Street site in Romford in a joint venture (JV)…

Tim Wates has taken over as the new chairman of Wates – as his cousin Sir James Wates stands down after 10 years. Tim, who joined the Wates Group in 1993, takes over after Sir James Wates announced he would be stepping down from the role in January. James Wates…

Former Wates chief executive David Allen was paid £992,000 in “compensation for loss of office”, Construction News can reveal. Allen joined Wates as chief financial officer in 2016, before stepping up to chief executive in 2018. He departed suddenly last summer, leaving Philip Wainwright to head the company as interim…