Oates has already spent 14 months as operations director north east, tasked with establishing a greater presence in an area that previously fell within GMI’s Yorkshire division.

During this time, he established an office on Teesside and is currently in the process of moving to larger premises in Stockton-on-Tees to accommodate a 25-strong construction management team.

Oates initially spent more than 16 years with GMI Construction Group, starting as a site manager and progressing to contracts manager, before finally re-joining the company in October 2021 from TSL Projects where he was project director.

GMI is currently principal contractor on several high-profile north east projects.

These include 360,000 sq ft of commercial units at Hillthorn Business Park, Washington and a 650,000 sq ft Connect warehouse and logistics scheme at the Integra 61 development near Bowburn.