Wates Group
Wates Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned UK construction, development and property services company operating across land promotion, building, fit-out and maintenance for public sector, social housing, and private sector clients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1897
- HeadquartersLeatherhead, United Kingdom
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Wates Group does
Wates Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned UK construction, development and property services company headquartered in Leatherhead and operating exclusively in Great Britain. The group is structured around three operating pillars: Develop (land promotion and residential and commercial development under Wates Land & Development, Wates Residential, Wates Developments, Wates Commercial and Logistics, and Wates Wildscape), Build (Wates Construction, including Wates Smartspace offsite modular and Wates Fit Out, plus the SES engineering, manufacturing and technology subsidiary), and Maintain (Wates Property Services including the recently acquired Liberty brand and Net Zero Collective retrofit consultancy).
Revenue is generated from construction and building contracts (fixed-price, framework and term contracts), residential property development and land promotion transaction fees, and recurring property services and maintenance contracts — predominantly under long-duration public-sector frameworks. The group monetises through new-build, refurbishment and fit-out works, the sale and promotion of consented land and homes, and ongoing maintenance, compliance and retrofit services to social housing providers and local authorities. Core technology assets include the Prism offsite manufacturing facility in Coventry (~3,000 modules/year), the Adapt 3.0 and Adapt-Zero standardised school systems, Passivhaus delivery, the WIN sustainability portal, BIM/ISO 19650 processes, and a Technical Excellence Centre. Diversified certifications (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 44001, 19650) underpin procurement eligibility.
The company sells primarily through enterprise field sales to public sector clients accessed via framework positions (stated coverage of 70% of UK central and local government frameworks), supplemented by direct enterprise relationships with private sector clients (e.g., Marks & Spencer, Lloyds Banking Group) and competitive tendering for local authority maintenance work. With approximately 6,000 employees, a record £2.56bn turnover in 2025, a £10bn forward order book, 26 consecutive years of profitability and a record £248.3m net cash position, Wates operates as a scaled, self-funded platform with no external equity capital.
Wates Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Wates Group
- Legal name
- Wates Group
- Website
- https://wates.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1897
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Wates Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned UK construction, development and property services company operating across land promotion, building, fit-out and maintenance for public sector, social housing, and private sector clients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Wates Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Construction and Property Services
- NAICS
- Real Estate Property Managers (53131), Services to Buildings and Dwellings (5617), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)
- SIC
- General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540), Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552), Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340), Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Transitional/Development Land Brokerage (Entitled, In-Path-of-Growth) (BPAJADAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)
Keywords
Where Wates Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Leatherhead
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices14 records
Markets served
Wates Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Construction and Building Services: General construction services across commercial, residential, education, healthcare, justice, and public sector. Includes new build, refurbishment, and fit-out services. Revenue derived from fixed-price contracts, framework agreements, and term contracts.
- Residential Development: Development and sale of residential properties including homes for private sale, affordable housing, and mixed-tenure schemes. Revenue from land promotion, planning consent services, and property sales.
- Property Services and Maintenance: Housing maintenance, repairs, facilities management, and property compliance services primarily for social housing providers and local authorities. Revenue from long-term maintenance contracts and responsive repair services.
- Land Promotion: Strategic land promotion services for landowners, securing planning permissions and selling consented land to housebuilders. Revenue from land transaction fees and capital appreciation.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Wates Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Wates Group is a UK family-owned construction, development, and property services company delivering an integrated portfolio across three core service areas: Develop (land promotion and residential/commercial development), Build (construction, engineering, and fit-out), and Maintain (housing maintenance, repairs, and facilities management). The company serves public sector clients (Department for Education, Ministry of Justice, NHS, local authorities) and private sector clients (Marks & Spencer, housing developers, financial institutions) across education, healthcare, justice, housing, commercial, and infrastructure markets.
Product overview
Wates Group is a UK-leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company offering an integrated portfolio across three core service areas: Develop (land promotion and residential/commercial development), Build (construction, engineering, and fit-out), and Maintain (facilities management and housing maintenance). The portfolio includes Wates Land & Development (land promotion), Wates Developments, Wates Commercial and Logistics, Wates Wildscape (biodiversity), Wates Residential, Wates Construction (with Wates Smartspace modular construction and Wates Fit Out), SES subsidiary (engineering services), and WPS subsidiary (property services including Liberty and Net Zero Collective brands). The company operates across public and private sectors serving education, healthcare, commercial, justice, housing, and infrastructure markets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Wates Developments: Specialists in land, planning and residential development with a focus on sustainable placemaking.
- Wates Commercial and Logistics
- Wates Wildscape
- Wates Smartspace
- Wates Fit Out
- Liberty
- Net Zero Collective
Products and services
- Wates Land & Development One of the largest UK land promotion businesses, securing planning consents for landowners across southern England, the west, and Midlands, with a 98% planning success rate since 2005.
- Wates Developments Specialists in residential land, planning, and development with 97% planning success rate, 74 live sites, and 3,000+ acres of residential land in portfolio, partnering with housebuilders through joint ventures.
- Wates Commercial and Logistics Specializes in industrial, logistics and warehousing developments, data centres, leisure and retail commercial land opportunities, securing planning consents and unlocking commercial land value.
- Wates Wildscape Creates dedicated habitat sites that restore biodiversity, support ecosystems, and help landowners and developers meet legal biodiversity net gain requirements.
- Wates Residential Residential development arm delivering homes across various tenures including affordable housing, private sale, and mixed-tenure schemes.
- Wates Construction Major construction contractor operating across public and private sectors including education, healthcare, commercial, justice, and housing. Includes Wates Smartspace and Wates Fit Out sub-services.
- Wates Smartspace Modular offsite construction solutions delivered through the Coventry-based Prism facility, producing approximately 3,000 modules annually and saving on-site work hours.
- Wates Fit Out High-quality fit-out and refurbishment services for commercial interiors, retail, and public sector facilities.
- SES (Engineering Services) Engineering services business offering bespoke mechanical, electrical, and public health (MEP) design and build. Includes SES Engineering, SES Manufacturing, and SES Technology divisions.
- WPS (Wates Property Services) Property services business providing housing maintenance, repairs, heating, compliance, and retrofit services to social housing providers and local authorities. Includes Liberty and Net Zero Collective brands.
- Liberty Property repair and maintenance provider specializing in heating, compliance, and decarbonisation services for social housing. Acquired from ForHousing in October 2024 with 1,100 employees and £120m revenue.
- Net Zero Collective Consultancy service for PAS 2035/2038 retrofit standards, helping social housing providers meet decarbonisation requirements.
Quantifiable outcome
- 26 consecutive years of profitability
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use Wates Group
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Wates Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Wates Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and supporting.
- Manor Oak HomescoreWates Land & Development acquired Midlands-based land promoter Manor Oak Homes (now operating as Wates Manor Oak), bringing a portfolio of 52 high-quality development sites. The deal positions Wates as one of the UK's largest land promoters and establishes a dedicated Midlands-focused operation aligned with long-term growth strategy.
- Department for EducationcoreLong-term strategic partner supporting DfE national construction frameworks and centrally led delivery programmes since 2008. Delivered 48 school projects through dedicated 10-strong specialist education team.
- Ministry of JusticecoreStrategic supplier for the New Prisons Programme, working as part of unique alliance partnership with four other major construction firms on £1bn programme to deliver 6,000 new prison places.
- Arup and HKS ArchitectsstrategicDecarbonising Health Estates Partnership formed to help NHS England meet challenging carbon reduction obligations. Joint initiative combining Wates' construction expertise with Arup's engineering and HKS's healthcare architecture.
- Lloyds Banking GroupstrategicInnovation partnership through WIN portal. Lloyds discovered 20 emission-reduction solutions through the portal, with nine currently being tested across its extensive building network.
- ConstructionlinesupportingPartnership for meet the buyer events allowing Wates to meet local and national supply chain partners. Events provide networking opportunities to discuss strategic priorities and long-term goals.
- Supply Chain Sustainability SchoolsupportingWates is a partner of the Supply Chain Sustainability School, offering free training and workshops to help suppliers improve knowledge and understanding of sustainability topics.
- Buy Social Corporate ChallengesupportingFounding member of Buy Social Corporate Challenge established by Social Enterprise UK and Cabinet Office with aim of collectively spending £1bn with social enterprises through procurement.
- Crown Commercial ServicecorePosition on Crown Commercial CWAS Framework (RM6088) providing pan-government access for offices, schools, hospitals, universities, prisons and housing construction.
- Plunkett UKsupportingPartnership with national charity helping rural communities set up and run community-owned businesses including shops, pubs, woodlands, farms and fisheries.
- ForHousingcoreSocial housing provider whose property services division Liberty was acquired by Wates. Transaction integrates over 1,100 employees and expands Wates' services in heating, compliance and renewable energy.
- Liberty (property services)coreProperty services business acquired from ForHousing, operating under its own name within Wates Property Services. Generates £120m revenue and handles approximately 1,500 customer calls daily.
Scale indicators26 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Wates Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mears Group: Mears Group is a UK-listed housing and property services company specialising in maintenance, repairs, and compliance for social housing providers — directly comparable to Wates Property Services (WPS/Liberty) and a competitor on the same local authority framework agreements.
- Kier Group: Kier is a UK construction, infrastructure, and property services group with comparable public sector framework exposure (highways, education, housing maintenance) and a residential division. Direct competitor on DfE/CCS frameworks and social housing maintenance contracts.
- Sir Robert McAlpine: Sir Robert McAlpine is a privately-held, family-influenced UK contractor with comparable scale, heritage, and focus on public sector construction (education, healthcare, defence) and commercial build. Strong direct competitor on framework work.
- Mace Group: Mace is a privately-held UK-based construction and consultancy firm with overlapping public sector and commercial delivery capabilities, plus a fit-out business comparable to Wates Fit Out. Direct competitor on major framework-led public sector work.
- Laing O'Rourke: Laing O'Rourke is a privately-held UK-headquartered international construction firm with comparable structure (family-backed, large-scale contracting, offsite manufacturing through Explore Industrial). Direct competitor on major public and private sector projects.
- Keepmoat: Keepmoat is one of the UK's largest partnership housebuilders with strong regional focus on affordable and private sale homes. Directly comparable to Wates Residential and the Partnership/JV delivery model used with councils (e.g., Cardiff Living, Havering).
- Galliford Try: Galliford Try is a UK-listed construction and housebuilding group combining building contracting (now restructured) with housebuilding via Vistry. Overlaps with Wates Construction on public sector work and with Wates Residential/Land on residential development and partnerships.
- Balfour Beatty: Balfour Beatty is one of the UK's largest infrastructure and construction groups, competing directly with Wates across public sector frameworks, building, and engineering services. Comparable in scale, sector coverage, and UK-wide office footprint.
- Morgan Sindall Group: Morgan Sindall is a UK-listed construction and regeneration group operating across construction, property services, and fit-out — directly comparable to Wates' Build and Maintain divisions. Public sector framework exposure and a residential development arm mirror Wates' structure. Wates recently hired Wates Construction West Pre-Construction Director Jenny Martin from Morgan Sindall, confirming direct talent flow.
Broad incumbents
- Skanska UK: Skanska is a large Swedish-listed construction group with substantial UK operations covering building, civil engineering, and infrastructure. Competes with Wates on public sector frameworks and commercial build, but operates globally with a wider portfolio beyond UK only.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Wates Group social profiles
Digital presenceWates Group compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Wates Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Wates Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Wates Group subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries7 records
Wates Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Wates Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Wates Group
What does Wates Group do?
Wates Group is a UK family-owned construction, development, and property services company delivering an integrated portfolio across three core service areas: Develop (land promotion and residential/commercial development), Build (construction, engineering, and fit-out), and Maintain (housing maintenance, repairs, and facilities management). The company serves public sector clients (Department for Education, Ministry of Justice, NHS, local authorities) and private sector clients (Marks & Spencer, housing developers, financial institutions) across education, healthcare, justice, housing, commercial, and infrastructure markets.
Is Wates Group a public or private company?
Wates Group is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Wates Group founded?
Wates Group was founded in 1897. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Wates Group based?
Wates Group is headquartered in Leatherhead, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Wates Group make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Construction and Building Services are the primary driver. The others are residential Development, property Services and Maintenance and land Promotion.
Who are Wates Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mears Group, Kier Group, Sir Robert McAlpine, Mace Group, Laing O'Rourke, Keepmoat, Galliford Try, Balfour Beatty and Morgan Sindall Group. Skanska UK is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Wates Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Wates Group.
What industry is Wates Group in?
Wates Group's product category is Construction and Property Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAJADAJ, Transitional/Development Land Brokerage (Entitled, In-Path-of-Growth), with a secondary code of BPAGALAC, Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts). Its NAICS code is 53131 and its SIC code is 1540.