James Wates CBE, Chairman of the Wates Group, has been appointed Chairman of the Princes Trust Corporate Advisory Group.

Wates Construction Group has today strengthened its team with new senior appointments.

Wates Construction has kick-started a regional growth strategy in the Midlands with the appointment of James Willis as Business Development Manager.

Simon has over 20 years of experience in environmental science, planning, regeneration, and commercial development.

Kevin joined Wates Strategic Space in September 2024, bringing with him extensive experience from Knight Frank

Hayley is responsible for helping to build and expand Wates Strategic Space’s commercial land portfolio with a focus on opportunities for industrial and logistics development

As Managing Director for Major Projects, Eddie has overall responsibility for securing and constructing the larger, more complex projects that Wates deliver across the UK.

I am passionate about creating a network of cross-discipline connections across the industry focused on developing a collabotative approach to knowledge share to explore solutions to customers and sector challenges.

As Partnerships Director, Craig has over 20 years’ experience working within the housing development sector.

As Major Projects Pre-construction Director, Mike is responsible for work-winning across the Major Projects Division.

Jon is responsible for our Needspace business that manages a portfolio of flexible workspace centres across London and the South East.

Olivia works to ensure that the schemes we design and deliver support local communities and nature to thrive today and tomorrow.

Steff has been at Wates since 1995, spending his initial 18 years in a regional capacity including five years as Regional Director. Following this, he led the pre-construction function for Wates Construction Group, including SES Engineering Services, for more than six years.

Joining Wates in 2023, Bradley uses his expertise to help grow the pipeline of work in the Southern region.

John leads the Pre-Construction function for the Construction Business, where his passion lies in promoting continuous improvement, driving efficiency, and ensuring consistency across all aspects of Pre-Construction.

Gavin has been DfE Framework Director since March 2019 having previously been DfE Framework Manager for four years.

As Education Director since 2016, Gary has overall accountability for our Schools Education Sector. He works closely with the other members of our DfE Framework Management to ensure Framework Agreement compliance and high performance levels, and oversees the timely delivery of all schemes within budget

Nicola is responsible for Business Development within our Northern Home Counties region, predominantly based in the East, covering Cambridgeshire and the surrounding counties