Willmott Dixon embarks on Northern housing drive

Willmott Dixon has appointed Stuart Belfield, previously regional managing director for Mansell in the North West, as operations director to lead a newly created Northern housing division.

Belfield's colleague at Mansell, Richard Sterling, also joins Willmott Dixon as sales and marketing manager. Both are based in Oldham.

The company already builds 1,500 homes a year but mainly in the South East, and has been growing its presence in the regional housing market during the past 12 months, securing schemes including the £23m programme to deliver 197 retirement homes in Derbyshire for Chevin Housing Association, a member of the Together Housing Group.

In April, Willmott Dixon was named on all four regional lots of the Homes & Communities Agency's Delivery Partner Panel 2 framework which runs for four years. The framework is used to procure construction of homes on land owned by HCA and other public sector bodies.
Willmott Dixon is also on the Scape, Cutting Edge Framework and Procure Plus New Build Frameworks.

The construction side of the business turns over £150m a year in the North, from offices in Oldham, Leeds and Newcastle.

Belfield said: "When Willmott Dixon outlined its ambitious growth plans for the North, the opportunity to help shape this was too good to miss. Willmott Dixon has a compelling market proposition as one of the country's largest housing contractors; we're looking forward to delivering this potential in the North."