James Wates has been appointed as the new chairman of the Industry Training Board, CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has announced.
Wates will take the chairmanship from Sir Michael Latham at the end of March, having previously served on the board for seven years.

The two-day per week job, based in London is one of the construction industry's most influential positions, with the chairman leading the CITB-Constructionskills Board in making strategic decisions about training and shaping the future direction of the construction industry.

Wates has worked in the construction industry all his life, starting on site as a schoolboy during holidays. He read Estate Management at college after which he joined Wates Construction as a management trainee, progressing through line management to running sites before taking on a general manager role in 1989. Since then he has progressed through the company to be deputy chairman of the main Wates group Board.

Outside of the Wates Group, he is involved with several industry bodies. He chairs the UK Contractors group, he is senior vice president of the Chartered Institute of Building and a vice chairman of the CBI Construction Council, a trustee of the Wates Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for the Disabled, a member of the London Skills and Employment Board and he also sits on the London Regional Council of The Prince's Trust.