Wates

Wates has announced a major restructure as part of an effort to target more residential and public sector work as it looks to recover from the coronavirus crisis. The changes will see Wates Residential will become a standalone business under the leadership of Helen Bunch, who is moving from her…

Wates took top spot in June’s league table for contract wins. The contractor secured £194.6m worth of work across eight projects during the month. Its largest was a £100m contract with Essential Living to deliver 184 flats in Swiss Cottage, north London. The job helped to put it well ahead…

Wates has reinstated all non-furloughed staff to full pay, including its board. The company announced the move on Friday and said it would continue to top up furloughed staff’s salaries. The move comes a month after the firm became the first major contractor to announce redundancies, saying it was looking to…

Wates, Keltbray and O'Donovan Waste Disposal are among the firms trying to raise awareness of health concerns faced by the industry’s male-majority workforce as part of an initiative called Men’s Health Week. Wates Construction managing director Mark Tant sent a video message to the to the firm’s employees encouraging them…

Wates Residential and Havering Council have submitted plans for the redevelopment of the Waterloo Estate in Romford as part of a £1bn estates regeneration programme. Plans include the construction of 1,380 new homes, 550 of which will be affordable, across a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties. The…

The managing director of Wates Group subsidiary SES Engineering Services is to leave the business. Jason Knights (pictured) has been MD of the mechanical and engineering division since 2017 and an employee of Wates for a decade. Construction News understands a successor has not yet been appointed and that Knights has…

Camden Council is to reopen tenders for recladding and fire-safety refurbishment works on the Chalcots Estate after failing to agree contract terms with Wates. The contractor has been working on the estate since January 2019 under a “letter of intent” basis and it had been expected that the company would…

Main contractors and housebuilders including Wates, Kier, Vistry and Bellway have signed up to a COVID-19 compliance course. The course, launched by construction recruitment firm O’Neill & Brennan, will provide coronavirus training for construction workers. The course is certified on the Register of Regulated Qualifications by Ofqual, and provides contractors with…

Retendering of three frameworks worth more than £1.5bn has been delayed due to disruption caused by COVID-19. Framework provider LHC has confirmed that its three energy efficiency and refurbishment frameworks across England, London and Wales will be extended until October, having been due to expire at the end of this…

The proportion of construction workers furloughed has fallen below 25 per cent, according to research from Build UK this week. The survey of 25 of its members, which includes some of the country’s largest contractors, revealed the number of workers having their wages paid by the government has fallen from…