Wates Group has announced the appointment of Esther English as its new corporate development director with immediate effect.

Reporting to chief executive, David Allen, and supporting the group’s executive committee, English will lead the group’s strategic planning activities. In doing so, she will oversee the work that is underway to achieve the group’s diversity, inclusion, and environmental goals, and will explore new opportunities to make Wates more progressive, more trusted, and more sustainably profitable.

A Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, English joined the Wates Group in August 2020 as maternity cover for the chief of staff. Before this, she worked at Crossrail for five years, most recently as head of reporting, and at KPMG and Reed Global. She holds an MA in experimental psychology from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford and was treasurer of the Association for Business Psychology from 2015 to 2019.

David Allen, Wates Group chief executive, said: “The need for our sector to change has never been clearer. We are committed to transforming our business. To do so, we need to blend the deep expertise of our existing team with the new capabilities, varied experiences, and fresh perspectives that people from different academic and professional backgrounds can bring. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Esther as we find better ways to meet our customers’ needs and to fulfil the enormous potential of the group.”

Esther English, corporate development director, said: “Wates is a fantastic business. I’m delighted to be joining the team and to have the opportunity to contribute to and shape the changes that will ensure that it continues to thrive and to provide leadership to the sector in the future.”