Whitmore becomes Regional Business Unit Director as Wates looks to win more work in the commercial, schools and higher education sectors.

Whitmore left his post as Morgan Sindall’s Regional MD for the South West in September.

He will now oversee the Cambridge and Luton offices for Wates.

Wates’ current portfolio for the region includes the £8m TOKKO My Place facility in Luton, £37m Crest Academy, Brent and £21m University of Essex Forum Project.

Whitmore said: “Wates’ Northern Home Counties and East region has a proven track record of delivering construction excellence for a range of projects spanning the education and commercial sectors.

“I am looking forward to seeing this continue and ensuring that we maintain our role in the growth of the region’s economy by utilising our building works to create a raft of training and employment opportunities for local people.

“The construction industry is at present not without its challenges and tight budget management is more crucial than ever before.

“It is for this reason that we are looking to the future with a significant drive on efficiency, with a focus on maintaining high standards, to ensure client satisfaction and true value for money.”

Wates was recently awarded a £33m contract to deliver the East of England batch of the Department for Education’s Priority Schools Building Programme (PSBP).

The programme will see the rebuild of six schools across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent.

Current projects also include the £16m Waltham Forest school building programme, which was procured through the Norfolk Framework, and the £4m expansion of Middleton Primary School in Milton Keynes.

Two regional managing directors have left Morgan Sindall as the contractor restructures its construction operations to “reflect market conditions”.

Morgan Sindall confirmed today that north east MD Gordon Ray and south west boss Peter Whitmore are leaving the business.