The Wates Group has announced the appointment of a new senior team focused on expanding the Group’s work in healthcare construction.
The team will be headed by Simon Kydd, currently Head of Healthcare at WSP. Simon takes up his new role as Head of Healthcare from 1st September 2021. He will be joined by Bonnie Chu as Healthcare Design Director and Scott Machin as Healthcare Bid Manager. The team, which will report to Group Public Sector Director Steve Beechey, will be joined by a Framework Manager to be announced soon.
The family owned construction, property services and residential development business is experienced in delivering specialised projects in the healthcare sector, with recently completed projects including the £79.9m renovation of the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons, in London; a 72-bed mental health facility, Foss Park Hospital, for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust; world-leading clinical facilities at the Quadram Institute in Norwich; and a 176-bed Intensive Care Unit for the Royal London Hospital, completed last year in just five weeks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for St Barts NHS Hospital Trust.
With its unique integrated offer, combining the engineering expertise of its Coventry-based offsite manufacturing facility, Prism, with its construction, property management and refurbishment businesses, Wates is focused on addressing some of the key challenges facing the healthcare sector. These include meeting carbon reduction targets, upgrading ageing parts of the NHS estate and providing healthcare facilities to help clinicians deliver improved outcomes for patients.
Paul Chandler, Executive Managing Director, Wates Construction Group, said: “Today’s announcement represents a major investment in the future for Wates, and I am particularly pleased that someone of Simon’s calibre has joined us to help lead our efforts to build on our presence in the healthcare sector.
“The expertise and experience of our senior healthcare team, all with significant experience of delivering complex healthcare facilities, combined with the group’s industry-leading construction, engineering and fit-out capabilities, means Wates now has the capabilities to be one of the market’s leading providers of complex primary healthcare projects.”
Simon Kydd, Head of Healthcare, Wates Group, said: “As the healthcare sector moves to deliver the New Hospitals Programme, and learns from the response to the pandemic, I am excited to be joining a company whose values so closely align with my own, delivering an end-to-end service that considers outcome and quality of space for the end user from day one. As Wates expands its healthcare offering, leveraging its pioneering approaches to modern methods of construction and net zero carbon, I know we can be a market leader within the sector and offer genuine value to the NHS.”
Header image: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust’s 72-bed mental health facility, Foss Park Hospital
About the team:
Simon Kydd, Head of Healthcare
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, Simon has 24 years of experience within the built environment – 16 of those in the healthcare sector. His most recent role was Head of Healthcare at engineering consultancy WSP UK, where he has led all health sector work in the UK since 2014. Recent major projects include Cleveland Clinic London, UCLH (University College London Hospital) Proton Beam clinic, London, and the redevelopment of Leeds Hospital. Previous roles include head of Healthcare Market Development at Balfour Beatty and Head of Healthcare for Mansell plc.
Bonnie Chu, Healthcare Design Director
A member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Bonnie has 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, leading design, project management and delivery in architectural practices and developers. She joined Wates from St George plc in 2018, as design lead for Wates Construction’s London residential business, where she has overseen design for projects with a combined value of over £250m. Prior to her residential sector experience, Bonnie co-founded Edward Williams Architects where she led design teams for projects including Midland Metropolitan Hospital, UCLH Proton Beam Therapy and Phase 4 Centre for the NHS, and was project architect for the award-winning UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, the UK’s first walk-in day-care facility for cancer patients. Bonnie is the co-author of a submission for the Wolfson Economics Prize on designing the hospital of the future.
Scott Machin, Healthcare Bid Manager
Scott joined Wates in 2020 as interim head of healthcare from Galliford Try where he was Pre-Construction Director, leading all strategic bidding activities across the West Midlands region. Scott’s career in construction spans 27 years, including 10 years at Willmott Dixon, where he was involved in all aspects of managing tenders. Since joining Wates, Scott has led all healthcare business development for the group, identifying and cultivating strategic partner alliances that align and support growth and market expansion.
