Wates appoints Allen as chief executive

David Allen has been named as the permanent chief executive of Wates Group, following the departure of former boss Andrew Davies, who left to join collapsed contractor Carillion last November.

Allen had been Wates Group’s interim chief executive since Davies’ departure last year, having stepped up from his previous role as chief financial officer.

He joined Wates in January 2016 following seven years as Crossrail’s finance director, and before this, he was finance director at Laing O’Rourke’s European construction business.

Former Wates chief executive Davies was due to take up his role with Carillion on 2 April 2018, but the contractor was liquidated in January this year.

Wates Group chairman James Wates said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to confirm today’s appointment, which is the outcome of a rigorous executive search process.

“Our aim was always to find the very best candidate, either from within our talented senior management team or from outside Wates. We are particularly pleased to be able to confirm David in this key leadership role, as it evidences our strength in depth at executive level.

“David has shown an acute understanding of what it means to lead this very special family-owned business and I look forward to continuing to work with him as we progress through the next phase of the company’s history.”

Wates has set its sights on achieving a turnover of £2bn by 2020, and reported an annual turnover of £1.6bn in its latest full-year results, covering the 12 months to 31 December 2017.

It also reported a record order book of £5.1bn, alongside a pre-tax profit of £36m.