Wates boss steps down

The managing director of Shepherd’s M&E arm is stepping down after helping oversee the merger of the business with new owner Wates.

Mark Perkins (pictured) will leave next month – 14 years after he joined Shepherd – and just seven months after Wates bought Shepherd Engineering Services (SES) last October. Also included in the deal were a number of construction contracts, adding more than £400m to Wates’ turnover.

He was widely credited with helping smooth the transition process and paying tribute Wates chief executive Andrew Davies said: “Mark’s stewardship of the critical early stages of integrating SES into Wates has been invaluable. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark for his dedication and professionalism and wish him well in his future endeavours.”

One source told Building the news was a blow and added: “Andrew Davies and Mark Perkins together would have made probably the strongest team in the industry by a long way. Both men of the people and pragmatists. Important leadership qualities that are in short supply in this industry.”

And the source praised Perkins for remaining with the business. “He stuck by us when it mattered and for 1,300 people that means we have a future that we did not have at one point not so long ago.”

It is not yet known where Perkins will go next while Davies said a successor would be announced in due course.