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EmployersSenior hiring and moves
Wates
Wates was advertising 4 leadership roles at the weekly sweep on 26 October 2026, and 4 named senior moves into or out of the business were reported in the last six months.
Leadership roles advertised
4 leadership roles open at the weekly sweep on 26 October 2026: 4 added in the 28 days to that sweep and 4 since the index began counting on 17 September 2026. These are the director, head-of and chief seats the index headline counts, in operations, commercial, pre-construction, technical, planning and safety.
| Function | Open now | Added, since 17 September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Operations and delivery | 2 | 2 |
| Other leadership | 1 | 1 |
| Technical and design | 1 | 1 |
The index counts seats, not titles or links: the roles themselves are on Wates's own careers pages.
Senior moves, last six months
Named executive appointments reported in the UK construction trade press and the UK regional business press, each counted once, on the date of its first report, and linked to the report it was counted from. Non-executive, board and chair appointments are left out.
Joined Wates
| Reported | Name | Role | Joined from | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 August 2026 | Roger Forsdyke | UK operations director | Willmott Dixon | Construction News |
| 23 July 2026 | Kevin Grace | Commercial Director, London | Mace | Construction News |
Left Wates
| Reported | Name | New role | New employer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 September 2026 | Mark Wolverson | Director to lead North East workload | Willmott Dixon | Construction News |
| 5 June 2026 | Simon Kydd | Director to run health business | Sir Robert McAlpine | Construction News |
Many senior moves are never announced, and a report names the previous employer about one time in four, so departures are undercounted.
Contract awards, last twelve months
No contract award to Wates has been picked up from Find a Tender or Contracts Finder in the last twelve months. Much work is let through frameworks and private clients, which do not always reach the public notices.
What this means for a leader
For a leader considering Wates, the business is both advertising leadership seats and making named appointments, which usually means a senior team being built out or reshaped. The useful questions are where a seat reports, whether it is new or a replacement, and who else has joined recently.
Common questions
Is Wates hiring senior leaders?
Wates was advertising 4 leadership roles at the weekly sweep on 26 October 2026. 4 were added since the index began counting on 17 September 2026. The largest function is operations and delivery, with 2 open.
Who has joined or left Wates at senior level recently?
2 named senior appointments into Wates and 2 out of it were reported in the last six months. The most recent: Mark Wolverson, Director to lead North East workload at Willmott Dixon (17 September 2026); Roger Forsdyke, UK operations director (17 August 2026); Kevin Grace, Commercial Director, London (23 July 2026).
Where do these figures come from?
The role counts come from the weekly sweep of employers' own careers pages behind the Senior Hiring Index. The moves are the named executive appointments counted by the Construction Leadership Moves Index, each linked to its report. The awards are public notices from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. The page is rebuilt from those sources every few hours.
Using these figures
Quote them freely, with attribution to Lechley and a link to this page. Every employer with a page is listed under employers, and the market as a whole is on the Senior Hiring Index and the Construction Leadership Moves Index.
