Speakers and panellists 

Sir James Wates has worked for the Wates Group since 1983. He has been Chairman since 2013 and on the board since 1997. 

Outside of the company, James is Chairman of the Institute for Family Business and a Non-executive Director of Argent Services LLP. He has served in the past as Chairman of the BRE (Building Research Establishment) Trust, CBI Construction Council, the Construction Industry Training Board, and Build UK. 

Sir James feels passionately that good business, well done, is a force for good for society. In 2018 he was appointed by the Government to chair the coalition group developing corporate governance principles for large private companies (the so-called ‘Wates Principles’). 

In 2012 he was awarded the CBE and in 2019 was knighted for services to business and to charity. 

Jonny was appointed to the Wates Group Board in 2008, having previously served as Group Head of Strategy and Sales Director of Wates Homes Ltd. He is a Trustee of the Wates Family Enterprise Trust and the William Wates Memorial Trust. He chairs the Board Sustainability Committee and champions sustainability at a strategic and an operational level. 

Previously, Jonny was Founder and Chairman of the renewable energy start up Myriad Cleaner Energy Generation, and he began his career as brand manager at International Distillers & Vintners (now Diageo). 

Outside of Wates, Jonny holds a range of positions including: Vice Chair of Polaris Family Business Network International; an Advisory Board Member for the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations; a member of the Advisory Council of Commonland; a Trustee of Forum for the Future; an Associate at Leaders’ Quest; and an Ambassador of the World Benchmarking Alliance. 

He has an MBA from the Cranfield University School of Management and a Masters’ degree in Sustainability and Leadership from the University of Cambridge. 

Jonny is passionate about encouraging biodiversity in the city as a way to raise awareness of climate change, promote community cohesion and create a harmonious relationship between humanity and nature. 

David is Executive Managing Director of Wates Property Services. He joined Wates in January 2014, following a successful career in senior leadership roles in the support services sector. 

A graduate of Warwick University, David was previously Group Managing Director for G4S’ Care and Justice business, a £325m turnover business, employing 5,000 people. Prior to this he was Business Development Director of BT Global Services’ Public Sector division, developing long term strategic partnerships and growing the business to over £500m. 

As Executive Managing Director for Property Services, David is responsible for the leadership of our facilities management, and fit-out and refurbishment businesses, as well as our property maintenance division, which maintains over 500,000 social housing properties in England and Wales. He has a wealth of experience in working in partnership and joint ventures with housing associations and local authorities and is committed to delivering excellent value for money in addition to community regeneration for all our clients and residents. 

David sits on the Wates Group Executive Committee, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee and Group Risk Committee. 

Adam is Director at Exterior Plas, a growing business, based in Essex, with customer experience at the heart, delivering a tailored service using the best quality materials to cater for councils, housing associations and the education sector.  

Adam is a qualified Quantity Surveyor with 14 years’ experience working across main contractors, consultancy and sub-contract business models, ensuring all works are procured and delivered within budget. After qualifying at Anglia Ruskin University, Adam progressed to senior Quantity Surveying positions, including Commercial Director at Morgan Sindall.   

Adam has ventured into contracting himself, merging with Exterior Plas Ltd after forming a strong relationship with owner Andy Sheen. Together they have successfully expanded their windows, doors and FM building division from London to Glasgow and Belfast.  

Adam’s role is focused on supporting business growth, and Exterior Plas has recently begun a successful working relationship with Wates, via a long-term partnering agreement.  

Angela Rushforth is Managing Director of BSS, the UKs largest distributor of pipes, valves and fittings into the building services and industrial sectors. BSS is part of the Travis Perkins Group and Angela sits on the TP Group leadership team.

Angela joined the Travis Perkins Group in 2015 as Own Brand Director from leading independent builders merchant, Ridgeons, where she was Managing Director.

She then became Managing Director for Benchmarx, before leading the Group’s Business Transformation Programme. 

Angela previously held Executive positions at Wolseley and Screwfix. She has over 20 years’ experience in retail and merchanting, and has a strong background in leading businesses, creating and driving business propositions and strategic initiatives. 

Angela is the TP Group Diversity & Inclusion lead and established the TP Group gender balance network in 2019. The D&I networks now include Pride, Ability, Youth and ACE networks.

Angela is also Group sponsor for the TP Net Zero Carbon agenda.

Scott has worked in the construction industry for the past 25 years, the majority of which have been at Stortford Interiors as a specialist sub-contractor.  

His work has spanned both commercial and operational activities within the business and more latterly front-end preconstruction duties, business development and strategy formulation. This has given him an intimate and multi-faceted understanding not only of project demands but client expectations, market needs and macro-level challenges.   

Scott was appointed to the Board in 2013 and has overseen projects garnering awards and the business becoming a reputable, agile, and respected supply chain member for its Tier One partners.  

He was appointed Managing Director in February 2021 and is working with the Board to build a platform for sustainable, diverse, and innovative growth. 

Nikunj Upadhyay is the Group’s Inclusion and Diversity Director, responsible for the design and delivery of a multiyear strategy to help Wates be an inclusive and diverse business and an employer of choice for talent across all communities.  

Prior to Wates, Nikunj worked for Accenture, Barclays, HSBC and Saint Gobain in a variety of HR roles contributing to the delivery of their human capital strategies towards the achievement of business objectives.  

Outside of Wates, Nikunj is an Inclusion Board member at the Rugby Football League. The board has been established as part of the RFL’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination and will oversee progress of TACKLE IT – Rugby League versus Discrimination, the ambitious and far-reaching action plan which sets out how Rugby League will extend its reach and appeal, diversify its talent pool, improve its culture and actively deal with discrimination.  

Nikunj has a master’s degree in Personnel Management from the University of Pune, India.