About Us
Reimagining places for people to thrive.
We are Wates, the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company. Founded over 125 years ago, we know about the built environment. We partner with a wide range of public and private sector customers and partners to create the places, communities and businesses of tomorrow.
6,000
Employees (2024)
£2.4bn
Turnover (2024)
£395m
Social value generated (2024)
33%
Reduction in Scope 1 & 2 emissions against a 2019 baseline (2024)
Reimagining places for people to thrive
Now in our fourth generation of family ownership, we are committed to the long-term sustainability of the built environment and to making our industry more inclusive and representative of the communities we work in.
Our goals are to be more sustainable, trusted and progressive, and our people are driven by our behaviours of ‘we care’, ‘we are fair’, and ‘we look for a better way’.
Long term financial resilience
As a multi generational, family-owned business we are not driven by short term shareholder demands, but by decisions which are in the long term interest of the business.
Our owners, the Wates Family, are committed to handing over to the next generation, an even stronger, more sustainable business. This approach drives all our investment decisions and allows us to achieve progressive earnings growth and to partner with customers to deliver products and services that offer the best value for money possible.
Health and safety
Our safety strategy: Zero Harm: We’re Safer Together, has produced better results every year since it was first introduced in 2016.
It is aimed at eliminating physical and psychological harm entirely from all our workplaces. In 2022, we led the industry across all key health and safety metrics, while continuing to search for new ways to make us even safer still.
Quality
We are committed to eliminating the practical and economic impacts of any quality failures from each of our businesses, while also achieving full compliance with all relevant regulatory and legislative standards.
Our commitment to quality across the industry was demonstrated through our role in helping draft the Government’s Construction Playbook best practice guide in 2022.
Inclusion and diversity
Our ambition is to have a more diverse workforce and to be recognised as a leader in promoting diversity and inclusion in our own business and in the wider industry.
We are developing a more inclusive culture by establishing clear, non-negotiable expectations about colleagues’ behaviour and language.
We have developed award-winning inclusivity programmes to help change our culture, and we are always looking to build on that work further.
Environment
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to becoming a net zero carbon company and we’re working to eliminate Scope 1 and 2 carbon and waste from our business operations.
We are also collaborating with customers and suppliers to achieve reductions in Scope 3 emissions in response to rapidly developing customer demands as the net zero agenda becomes ever more important.
Innovation
We have always looked for new and better ways of meeting our customers’ needs and we are committed to developing and embracing the best new ideas that generate value and help us to tackle shared challenges.
Whether we’re cutting operating costs with optimised construction or saving energy with Passivhaus technology, we can connect you with the right answers.
Latest career opportunities
Account Manager
Location: Leeds
Job Type: Engineering
Application Deadline: 30-06-2025
ACCOUNT MANAGER Wates have excellent opportunity for a technically strong Account Manager to provide operational leadership, technical management, added value and development on our Key Account, the University Leeds Residential estate. ABOUT THE ROLEWe are looking for an Account Manager with experience of working in transferable environment, with strong demonstrable experience of in leading people with experience of managing Mobile across large multi-site accounts. The ideal candidate would have a recognised technical qualification and membership to the Institute of Safety and Health (IOSH) or equivalent, coupled with solid financial and commercial acumen and experience of running a P&L. This is a terrific opportunity to progress your career as part of a talented, diverse, and supportive team. Some of the other Key Accountabilities as Account Manager include: Lead and motivate the Wates FM team by example and deliver excellence and first class sustainable hard M&E, Reactive, Projects and Fabric service provisions. Provide visible leadership and liase effectively to nurture the relationships with the key client stakeholders. To ensure compliance with all statutory, safety, quality, environmental, security and relevant Wates Professional Standards, creating a Zero Harm culture. Ensuring targets are maintained by the timely upload of compliance certification onto ACT. (Assurance Compliance Tool) Responsible for implementing and safeguarding best practice for commercial activity relating to contract management and managing specialists and suppliers to ensure dynamic MI reporting and that KPI/SLA targets are delivered. WHAT WE OFFER Competitive salary Extensive corporate benefits including, Private Medical, Pension 5% employers’ contribution, Health and Wellness programme, 22 days holidays + bank holidays and much more… Excellent range of learning and development activity to support your career progression. Industry leading family leave benefits to included 26 weeks fully paid maternity, 12 weeks fully paid paternity. Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant's criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks. To learn more about the checks included in this process, please click on the following link: National Security Vetting
Carpenter Multi
Location: Brixton
Job Type: Trades and Labour
Application Deadline: 30-06-2025
Wates have an opportunity for a Carpenter Multi Trader to join our Wates team within our Responsive Maintenance division. You will be working out of our Brixton office on one of our social housing contracts, delivering reactive maintenance to our residents.Key Accountabilities will include: Undertaking repair/renewal works Advising Supervisor in a timely manner where other trades are required Working solely on certain tasks Working in partnership with other operatives to complete certain tasks Completing daily work sheets detailing work undertaken and materials used after each job undertaken Working in a timely and productive manner to complete programme tasksYou must have a full UK driving licence.To be successful in the role you will be an excellent communicator with the ability to problem solve, multi task, work to tight deadlines, have high standard of workmanship, productivity levels and ability to provide excellent customer service at all times is essential.Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant's criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks. To learn more about the checks included in this process, please click on the following link: National Security Vetting
Multi Trader (Damp and Mould)
Location: Brixton
Job Type: Trades and Labour
Application Deadline: 30-06-2025
Wates have an opportunity for a Multi Trader (Damp and Mould) to join our Wates team within our Responsive Maintenance division. You will be working out of our Brixton office on one of our social housing contracts, delivering reactive maintenance to our residents.Key Accountabilities will include: Undertaking repair/renewal works Advising Supervisor in a timely manner where other trades are required Working solely on certain tasks Working in partnership with other operatives to complete certain tasks Completing daily work sheets detailing work undertaken and materials used after each job undertaken Working in a timely and productive manner to complete programme tasksYou must have a full UK driving licence with access to a vehicle.To be successful in the role you will be an excellent communicator with the ability to problem solve, multi task, work to tight deadlines, have high standard of workmanship, productivity levels and ability to provide excellent customer service at all times is essential.Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant's criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks. To learn more about the checks included in this process, please click on the following link: National Security Vetting
Plasterer Multi
Location: Brixton
Job Type: Trades and Labour
Application Deadline: 30-06-2025
Wates have an opportunity for a Plasterer Multi to join our Wates team within our Responsive Maintenance division. You will be working out of our Brixton office on one of our social housing contracts, delivering reactive maintenance to our residents.Key Accountabilities will include: Undertaking repair/renewal works Advising Supervisor in a timely manner where other trades are required Working solely on certain tasks Working in partnership with other operatives to complete certain tasks Completing daily work sheets detailing work undertaken and materials used after each job undertaken Working in a timely and productive manner to complete programme tasksTo be successful in the role you will be an excellent communicator with the ability to problem solve, multi task, work to tight deadlines, have high standard of workmanship, productivity levels and ability to provide excellent customer service at all times is essential.Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant's criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks. To learn more about the checks included in this process, please click on the following link: National Security Vetting
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