Ian Burnett, CIHCM; Managing Director

Ian joined Wates in 1995 as Commercial Manager for the North East Region and was appointed Managing Director of Living Space in 2005.  He is a member of Wates ExCo and is the sponsor for our Group Charity, Barnardo’s, as well as being the Executive Director for the Scottish business and also our Responsive Maintenance business, Linbrook Services Ltd.

Ian is a Board member of the Housing Forum.  He is also Chair of the Employability Working Group which is part of Wates’ Building Futures project.  A strong advocate of partnership working, Ian has led a number of long term collaborative frameworks with RSL and ALMO partners.  He is a Fellow of the RICS and a Distinguished Professional Member of the CIH.

Steve Trusler, CIHCM; Strategy Director

Steve has worked in affordable housing sector for 30 years, and has been instrumental in creating Wates Living Space, leading its business strategy and successful business growth. Steve is a passionate supporter for continuous improvement and innovation within the housing industry. He has represented the industry on a number of occasions and is keen to debate on key issues affecting the industry, happy to challenge or support ideas and policy where appropriate.

Steve is committed to influencing the agenda on housing in the UK. He has recently been appointed Chair of Aster Homes, has attended briefings at Downing Street to debate the future of ALMOs, chaired a working group consisting of the BiTC, The Housing Forum, CIH, Housing Corporation and a number of clients and private businesses to look at how RSLs and businesses can work together to deliver community benefits and presented at an All Party Parliamentary group on Corporate Responsibility. Steve was also a member of the UK delegation that attended the CIH Tri-Country conference held in Toronto and presented and led a workshop at a housing seminar hosted by the Mayor of London at City Hall.

Steve is also a Distinguished Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and is a member of the BiTC Economic Renewal leadership team.

Stuart Laird; Chief Operating Officer and Regional Managing Director, South

Stuart joined Wates in 2010 to lead the team for the acquisition of Linbrook Services Limited. He has recently been appointed as Chief Operating Officer for Wates Living Space and sits on the National Living Space board, leading the business Operational Delivery; ensuring customers receive the highest quality service.

Stuart has an exceptional track record in developing businesses and improving performance particularly within the Construction, Rail, Facilities Management & Outsourcing markets.  In his previous role Stuart worked for Jarvis PLC where he was promoted from Chief Operating Officer to Group Chief Executive concentrating on the continued improvement of Health and Safety and performance, whilst restructuring the management team to meet the business challenges.

Steve Jackson; Regional Managing Director, West

Steve started with Wates as an ambitious Surveyor, and has risen to Regional Managing Director through his hard work and determination.

Steve’s inspiring and passionate nature has produced a dedicated team of individuals with one goal - to deliver your projects safely, on time, on budget - EVERY TIME.

He leads his award winning business with enthusiasm, and is very much a part of the team, encouraging others to succeed and driving his team to success.

Joanne Jamieson; Regional Managing Director, East

Joanne joined Wates in 1997 and progressed her career through the Commercial and Business Development structure to Business Unit Director.  Joanne sits on the Living Space National Board and is also a sponsor for the New Build Best Practice Team to ensure that as a national business, we are continuously improving and providing an innovative and sector leading service.

Joanne has extensive involvement in all aspects of the housing sector. In her role, she has sole responsibility for all housing schemes in the East of England, with a strong emphasis on leading the business unit to deliver exceptional value for all stakeholders. Furthermore, a key role for her is driving Wates’ mission to ensure that we deliver to our customers on time, on budget, every time, with high levels of customer satisfaction.

Joanne is fully committed to our employability and education agenda and is passionate about driving this agenda with private and public organisations to attract talent into the Construction sector.

Phil Sperring; Managing Director, Responsive Maintenance

Phil joined Wates in 1979 as a Project Quantity Surveyor dealing with post contract on site surveying duties for the Birmingham division. In 1988, Phil was promoted to Senior Quantity Surveyor. His work developed with more varied types of projects assisted by Trainee Surveyors.

In 1999, Phil’s research into Best Practice took him into a National role, and a member of the Wates Innovation Team. He was personally involved in the delivery of a ‘Right First Time’ initiative and the company Supply Chain Management Strategy.

2000 saw the beginning of a new role for Phil. His role in the development of Wates Social Housing Business for the Midlands region led to the directorship of the Whitefriars project in Coventry. In 2005 Phil was promoted to Business Unit Director fot the Midlands where he has successfully grown operations in the South West, Scotland, South Wales and more recently the East Midlands.

Phil's success in business growth has led to his recent promotion to Managing Director of our new Responsive Maintenance business.