John Foster

Pre-Construction Director, Wates Construction

With over two decades of dedication to the construction industry, John is a seasoned bid professional known for his unwavering commitment to delivering optimal solutions for customers.

John leads the Pre-Construction function for the Construction Business, where his passion lies in promoting continuous improvement, driving efficiency, and ensuring consistency across all aspects of Pre-Construction.

John’s career commenced as a Trainee Estimator progressing through various Pre-Construction roles including Principal Estimator at Willmott Dixon before joining Wates in 2013 to lead the Bid team in the North West. Before his appointment as the National Pre-Construction Director in June 2023, John took on the challenge of being the Business Lead for a change programme to transform our Pre-Construction process within the Construction business which has seen the development of a new process and software to improve the Pre-Construction experience for our Customers. His current role continues to drive the transformation through the development of a Pre-Construction training programme aligning to his desire to support the development of a diverse future talent in our industry.

With a diverse experience portfolio encompassing various procurement routes, frameworks and project types, from New build commercial offices, leisure, education and Pharma to heritage building refurbishments, John is passionate about using his experience to help shape a positive future for Pre-Construction in our industry through areas such as procurement changes and harnessing advancement in AI and Data Analytics.