In a significant expansion from its West Country roots, construction consultancy Ward Williams is opening new regional offices and has appointed several senior experts to strengthen capabilities in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Winchester and Oxford.
The partnership’s Manchester office is being led by Tom Moore, whose expertise lies in complex estate management and sustainability-led investment planning across the North of England. Previously in senior roles in Manchester with AtkinsRealis, Faithful + Gould and Turner & Townsend, Tom has more than 20 years’ experience in quantity and project surveying.
In Cardiff, the team is being led by Cardiff office lead Jon Whitehead, is a chartered surveyor with over 35 years of experience. Jon brings his experience in delivering complex, mixed use, large scale residential developments and also his knowledge in care village projects and maintenance frameworks.
In London, the arrival of Chris Jones as a partner adds further depth to the partnership’s capability offering. He brings over two decades of experience in viability modelling, masterplanning, development consultancy and estate regeneration, particularly in residential-led and mixed-use schemes.
Stephen Collis was also appointed earlier in the year to lead the Ward Williams strategic advisory team in the London office. A former Arcadis partner and sector lead in sports, leisure and wellbeing, Stephen brings a wealth of expertise from both public and private sector work, focusing on early-stage project decision-making and securing private equity investment into significant developments such as the Everton and Tottenham new stadia, Co-Op Live and Therme in Manchester.
A sector specialist in the project management of high quality prime and super-prime properties, James Carter-Brown has been put in charge of setting up a new multidisciplinary office in Oxford, serving clients in life sciences, strategic land and high net worth estate owners.
Ward Williams’ work across Wessex region (covering the southern counties from Dorset to West Sussex) is also being coordinated from an expanded office in Winchester, led by Mike Elwell. Mike is a chartered project manager with an award-winning record in project delivery spanning more than 20 years for both public and private sector organisations, including leading on residential and urban renewal, place making, health, higher education, research and education, heritage, and art and culture projects.
Senior partner, James Beckly, explained that the expansion reflects the increasing demand from Ward Williams’ property investment and asset management clients in both the public and private sectors for strategic advice, particularly in response to opportunities around regional devolution, economic development and regeneration, digitalisation and sustainability best practice.
“There is a much more buoyant market this year with a strong interest in economic growth and innovation,” he says. “But clients are also still facing cost pressures, tightening regulations and tougher decisions. So this expansion is shifting our focus, strengthening our local presence, deepening our sector expertise and making it easier for clients to get the right advice at the right time.
“We are now better positioned to help clients tackle questions around planning phased retrofit works, how to reposition or repurpose underperforming assets, and navigating regulatory changes. Our role is to help them make confident decisions, backed by sound analysis and a clear understanding of context.”
Ward Williams is a prominent independent built environment consultancy, asserting its distinctiveness by being “built differently”. Its mission is to provide meticulous, ethical and innovative advice grounded in sustainable principles, guided by a steadfast custodianship model. It provides key services in quantity surveying, project management, building surveying, construction management and sustainability advisory.
In 2020, Ward Williams became the first chartered surveyor in the world to achieve B Corp status.