David Atkinson is leading our development team

Willmott Dixon has launched Willmott Dixon Developments, a dedicated national business focused on regeneration, residential, student accommodation and public-private partnership (PPP) schemes.

The new business was unveiled at UKREiiF, the UK’s leading real estate forum, at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, in front of investors, developers, local authority leaders and public sector partners.

Willmott Dixon Developments brings together the group’s existing development, investment and regeneration capability – built up over nearly ten years – under a single national platform. It is led by David Atkinson, Director of Development and Investment, and Chris Wheeler, National Head of Land and Development, supported by regional development teams across England and Wales.

The business has set out an ambition to scale activity across four areas where it has an established track record:

• Regeneration and development management: working with councils to shape sites, masterplans, procurement routes and delivery strategies.
• Residential and direct investment: deploying Willmott Dixon capital selectively to unlock viable projects and align partner interests.
• Student accommodation (PBSA): partnering with universities to shape, fund and deliver purpose-built student accommodation.
• PPP and strategic partnerships: longer-term public-private models for complex programmes and social infrastructure.

Established track record across England and Wales

Willmott Dixon Developments is already leading on a series of high-profile regeneration schemes to bring forward portfolios of sites rather than one-off projects. In Torbay, the team is acting as long-term regeneration partner across a multi-site town centre and waterfront portfolio. In Great Yarmouth, it is leading masterplanning and planning strategy to unlock North Quay, a key station quarter mixed-use redevelopment. And in November last year, alongside joint venture partner Milligan, the team was appointed by Dorset Council to a Regeneration Partnership shaping Weymouth's future.

An important step for the Group

Graham Dundas, Chief Executive Officer at Willmott Dixon:

“Willmott Dixon Developments is an important next step for our group and creates a clear national platform for the development, investment and regeneration work we have been doing successfully for nearly a decade. Over that period our specialists have developed a track record for unlocking complex sites, turning early-stage ambition into viable, fundable and deliverable schemes.

“This launch establishes Willmott Dixon Developments as a dedicated national business with the people, capital, partnerships and network to help councils and other partners move faster from ambition to delivery. By combining genuine development and investment expertise with the construction insight that makes plans buildable, we are well placed to play a significant role in shaping the places this country needs.”

David Atkinson, Director of Development and Investment at Willmott Dixon Developments, said:

“We exist to solve the problem we hear most often from council and university partners: how to move stalled or complex sites from ambition to delivery. Our role is to act as a single, accountable partner that can shape the scheme, structure the funding, share risk where appropriate, and bring the certainty that comes with knowing how a project will be built.

“That blend of development, investment and delivery insight is rare in the market, and it is why we are leading long-term, multi-site regeneration programmes in places like Torbay, Great Yarmouth and Dorset. We are established players in this space, not market entrants. Launching Willmott Dixon Developments simply makes it easier for partners to see what we offer and how to work with us.”

The launch is supported by a brand promise – “Your ambition, delivered together” – designed to make the offer clearer to councils, universities, investors and other partners.