Wates Group Limited
Registered name: WATES GROUP LIMITED
Part of 1260 Family Holdings Limited groupWates Group Limited made £2.5bn revenue and £16.3m profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025.
Wates Group Limited’s revenue grew 8% to £2.5bn in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £16.3m profit and 6,223 employees. The company is classified under “activities of construction holding companies” and is based in Leatherhead; we hold 3 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Leatherhead, London
- Age
- 42 yrs · since 1984
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Pass-through vehicle. This looks like a holding, staffing or umbrella company. Its revenue and profit may largely pass through to or from other entities, so the figures may not reflect a standalone operating business. It is excluded from our opportunity lists.
Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently.
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L |
| Profit & loss | |||
| Revenue (turnover) | £2.1bn | £2.3bn | £2.5bn |
| Cost of sales | −£1.9bn | −£2bn | −£2.2bn |
| Gross profit | £234m | £266m | £314m |
| Operating profit | £35m | −£1.7m | £16.6m |
| Profit before tax | £44.9m | £2.6m | £29.2m |
| Profit after tax | £32.1m | £660k | £16.3m |
| Profit (best available) | £32.1m | £660k | £16.3m |
| Employees (average) | 4,321 | 5,192 | 6,223 |
| Ratios | |||
| Profit margin | 1.5% | 0% | 0.7% |
| Gross margin | 11.1% | 11.6% | 12.6% |
| Revenue per employee | £486k | £442k | £400k |
| Profit per employee | £7.4k | £127 | £2.6k |
| Growth (year on year) | |||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲9.3% | ▲8.4% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼98% | ▲2370% |
| Headcount growth | — | ▲20.2% | ▲19.9% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | |||
| Net assets | — | — | — |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Apr 2025 | Accounts · bulk data Apr 2025 | Accounts · bulk data Aug 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 0.7%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 12.6%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £400k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £2.6k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- —
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- —
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- —
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Balance-sheet signals
Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.
- Net assets
- —
- Now —
- Cash at bank
- —
- Now —
- Headcount
- ▲20%
- Now 6,223
- Deferred income
- —
- Now —
- Fixed assets
- —
- Now —
Group structure
Ownership chain
- 1260 Family Holdings Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- Wates Group Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
Subsidiaries (16)
- Wates Construction LimitedRev. £2.4bn · Profit £23.1m
- 10 ST. Bride Street LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Needspace? LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Qed Education Environments LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Ses Engineering (Holdings) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Stageselect LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Station Approach Holdings LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates (Walberton) LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Construction Services LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Developments LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Group Services LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Lancewood Estates LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Residential LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Smartspace LimitedFigures not disclosed
- Wates Surrey (Holdings) LimitedFigures not disclosed
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
Sources
Latest figures from accounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £16.3m), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Aug 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.