Wilmott Dixon strengthens sector teams

Construction group Willmott Dixon is targeting the house building and interiors markets by appointing chief operating officers at the two divisions.

Charlie Scherer rejoins the company as COO of Willmott Dixon Housing. He was previously commercial director before leaving in 2004, and arrives from Leadbitter, where he was director for South West and Wales. Prior to that, Scherer was the national housing director at Rok.

Mike Hart switches from his current role as director within Willmott Dixon Capital Works to become COO of Willmott Dixon Interiors.

Both men will report to Willmott Dixon Capital Works divisional chief executive, John Frankiewicz, who said: "Creating COOs for both our housing and interiors companies reinforces our structure with specialist leadership to complement our focus on work winning, excellence of operational delivery and customer satisfaction. We know that getting these things right will drive our success. We want to emerge from these tough trading conditions as a stronger more efficient business that has successfully stayed ahead of the curve, been capable of spotting trends and of maximising market opportunities as they present themselves. Our new COOs are a fundamental part of making that happen."

Willmott Dixon, which has a regional office in Oldham, is one of the country's largest contractors of residential accommodation, delivering on average 1,500 new homes a year for a mix of public and private clients and in-house developer Regen.