Willmott Dixon has strengthened its specialist team working to support local authority levelling up plans by appointing Trafford Housing Trust’s former head of delivery Katherine Kitchener as regional head of land and development in the North.

Kat will work with both public and private sector organisations to help accelerate town centre regeneration projects by leveraging funding, unlocking challenging sites and providing the extra capacity that can bring projects to site more quickly. It comes as Willmott Dixon has just been appointed for its latest urban renewal project, the Spindles Town Square redevelopment in Oldham.

Kat brings more than 15 years’ experience in residential sector development. She joins a specialist team within Willmott Dixon that is providing additional expertise to help public sector organisations across the country unlock the opportunities coming from the Government’s Levelling Up agenda by providing asset and development management, as well as support with funding solutions and land sourcing.

Richard Sterling, Willmott Dixon’s national head of land & development, said:

“Kat’s extensive experience will be a real asset to our local authority partners in the North as we work with them to deliver the regeneration opportunities that will drive future prosperity within our communities. Her knowledge of town centre regeneration will help accelerate the plans we are seeing being developed across towns and cities.”

Willmott Dixon’s portfolio of town centre regeneration projects in the North includes the £60m project to deliver 242 apartments and a Hampton by Hilton hotel at Upperbanks in Rochdale, adjacent to the £39m Rochdale Riverside retail and leisure development it completed in 2020. It is also on site with the multi-million-pound transport interchange and residential development in Stockport - part of a £1billion investment in the town centre - and recently handed over its renovation of the iconic Globe Theatre on Stockton-on-Tees’ High Street.