Wates Residential invests millions into Gosport economy

Since the beginning of construction work on the Daedalus Village project in Gosport, which entails the construction of 200 new homes, Wates Residential has contributed millions of pounds to the local economy.

Construction of the new ‘village’, which will contain 120 private homes and 80 affordable homes, began in November 2018 after Homes England appointed Wates as their project delivery partner.

The site for the new homes is situated on a former seaplane base in Lee-on-the-Solent, near Gosport, and is designed to enable fast-track building on publicly owned land, with construction occurring at around double the speed of the typical industry standard.

Throughout the 12 month construction process Wates have contributed greatly to the local economy and community through donating over £68,000 to local causes like Age Concern Gosport, spending over £12.9M with local businesses, recruiting a workforce of 35 per cent local people, and investing 2,634 hours (the equivalent of £207,000) into training and employment initiatives.

The Managing Director from Wates Residential, Paul Nicholls stated: “Wates Residential builds homes, but our work is about so much more than that. We believe that everyone deserves a great place to live and are committed to leaving a positive legacy for the local communities where we work by hiring local staff, volunteering and donating to good causes.

“It has been fantastic to work at the historic Daedalus site and we are pleased to have been able to support the local community through our presence. We look forward to continuing to make a positive impact as we move towards completion of 200 new homes on the site over the next 12 months.”

Angela Gill from Age Concern Gosport added: “Age Concern Gosport is really grateful that Wates Giving is enabling us to reach out to local organisations and residents alike that we otherwise would be unable to.

“Last year Age Concern Gosport provided over 300 local older people with support and information – with 1,000 volunteer hours delivered by our small team of dedicated volunteers. Our free form-filling support service also enabled an amazing £340,000 of benefits per annum to be secured for Gosport’s older people.

“This will enable us to make even more of a difference to Gosport’s older people over the coming year and for that we are truly grateful.”

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