Wates appoints Homes England Corporate Director to spearhead strategic growth in public sector
Wates appoints Homes England Corporate Director to spearhead strategic growth in public sector
Wates Group, one of the UK’s leading building, development and maintenance companies, has strengthened its public sector team with the appointment of Robert Stone as Head of Public Sector and National Frameworks.
Working closely with Group Public Sector Director, Stephen Beechey, Robert will be responsible for strengthening relationships with public sector entities and government bodies, as well as bolster engagement with strategic sectors including defence, justice and blue light.
He brings more than 30 years’ experience working in the construction industry, in both the public and private sectors, leading on some of the UK’s most impactful public sector investment programmes.
He most recently spent five years working as Director of Technical Services for Homes England, where he was responsible for leading its team providing specialist technical advice for a wide range of housing and regeneration projects. He was also responsible for capital projects and construction delivery, sustainability and design quality, H&S and environment, estate management, strategic town planning and was the Head of the Property Profession.
Robert was a member of the Government Construction Board, Government Property Leaders Board and was previously on the Housing Taskforce and the Nutrient Taskforce.
Prior to joining Homes England he was the Head of Estates at the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and had a leading role on the Defence Estates Optimisation Programme (DEOP) where he was the Design Authority and on the DEOP Board.
He also spent 12 years with various Tier 1 contractors as Project Director on major partnership projects mainly for schools and hospitals. He also lead the £1bn Eastwick & Sweetwater Regeneration Project, part of the post games redevelopment of the Olympic Park whilst with Balfour Beaty.
Robert’s appointment strengthens Wates’ existing Group public sector team which focuses on delivering and maintaining social infrastructure for local authorities and NHS Trusts across the UK, as well as government bodies including Department for Education, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Homes England and Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
Likewise, his role will also support Wates’ management of strategic national procurement frameworks including Pagabo, P23, Procure Partnerships Framework (PPF) and Crown Commercial Services (CCS).
The public sector makes up around 70 per cent of our business as a Group and will always be a key strategic focus for Wates. Delivering vital social infrastructure and navigating the complexities that this brings requires the best talent, and Robert brings a wealth of experience to our business working directly for our key customers.
His expertise reinforces our team’s knowledge and capabilities, and I will be working with him closely as we enhance our existing relationships with government departments, while seeking to strengthen our presence in new sectors.”
Stephen Beechey
Group Public Sector Director for Wates Group
I’ve worked alongside the Wates team for several years through my previous role with Homes England and have always been impressed by their commitment to the customer and the public who benefit from the projects they deliver. This role will see me work alongside multiple different teams across Wates Group, I’m looking forward to applying my prior expertise to this new challenge.”
Robert Stone
Head of Public Sector and National Frameworks
