PEOPLE
As our proposition states, at Claritas we want to do things differently with the aim of ‘creating something that works better – for everyone’.
Achieving this goal has been the prime focus of our CEO Jon Wardle from the very beginning. To achieve it Jon built a team around him who shared his ethos and had the expertise to deliver on the promises we make to our customers.
Our Senior Leadership Team now comprises eight board-level professionals, with experience at leading UK construction PLCs including Wates, Balfour Beatty, Mace, Skanska and Kier. All retain a personal, ‘hands on’ approach to the development of the business and the delivery of our values.
This leadership team understand that we are only as good as the people we employ. Expansion over recent years now sees us with a team of 120+ great people, who share Jon’s founding ethos and drive to deliver great work. Together, we are all excited about what we will now achieve as Claritas.
Jon Wardle
BSc (Hons) QS
CEO
Jon, our CEO, founded Claritas to provide pre-construction and construction management services to residential developers. Today, he is leading the Group’s evolution to provide traditional contracting, design and build, and joint venture arrangements based on the core principle of ‘two-way transparency’.
Dave Smith
FRICS Construction and Quantity Surveying
Non-Executive Chairman
Dave has joined Claritas as Non-Executive Chairman, following a major board position at Balfour Beatty as Regional Managing Director for the Southern Business, a short time at McLaren Construction and 32 years at Wates where he was Group COO.
Bringing with him a wealth of experience from these leading construction plc’s, Dave will guide and mentor the Senior Leadership Team and all at Claritas to achieve our Vision 2025 plan of sustainable growth year on year.
Matt Cova
BSc (Hons) FCIOB MRICS
Group Managing Director
Matt joined Claritas in December 2020 as Group Managing Director following two years as Managing Director of major projects at Keir and a 28 year career with Skanska.
Matt brings with him a wealth of experience from previous leading roles and a has huge presence and pedigree in the commercial sector. His leadership skills and experience will be a major asset to the company’s growth and development plans and a key factor in achieving our 2025 vision.
Jason Clark
BSc (Hons) FCIOB
Operations Director
Jason joined the Claritas team as Operations Director in 2012. He has a reputation in the construction industry to deliver quality, on time in a safe environment. Jason’s structured management career at Balfour Beatty, Bovis and Brennan Group ensured he has a track record of successfully delivering challenging and complex projects with his on site teams.
Alex Fish
BSc (Hons) QS
Commercial Director
Alex our Commercial Director has been part of the Claritas team since 2017. Alex has a proven track record both commercially and operationally having been involved in several significant developments as a Project Director at Mace for five years. Alex also worked with Jon and Andy at Wates for 10 years as part of the commercial team.
Anne Newman
BSc (Hons) QS
Post-Graduate Diploma in Management Studies
Anne is responsible for developing our Vision 2025 People Strategy to ensure that each of our employees is achieving their potential. Anne brings with her a wealth of experience in people development having held ‘People’ board positions at both United Living and Wates Group.
Simon Wilkinson
MCIOB
Director
Simon has been part of the Claritas team since 2019 after 13 years as a Director at Wates. Simon’s unique perspective on the industry and his passion for working collaboratively has enabled him to develop a network of customers built on trusted relationships. He has a real desire to play a proactive part in seeing the industry embrace new ways of working, not just in respect of technology and innovation, but most importantly through a cultural shift towards true collaboration.
Gideon Levene
Regional Operations Director (North West)
Gideon joined Claritas in December 2020 and heads up the North West Region operations. Gideon has been working in the Manchester and North West market since 2003 from leading the Projects Division at Styles & Wood and prior to that, Lendlease and Mace in Manchester. He was responsible for and led the development and delivery of a range of projects in Manchester including: The Ducie Street Warehouse; The Lightwell Apartments, St. Ann’s Square; Citygate building on Mosley Street; Islington Wharf, Ancoats; The Manchester Academies programme; and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Julien Nimis
BA Hons Arch
Head of Design
Architecturally trained and with over 20 years’ experience both in contracting and customer roles, Julien adopts a very hands-on and proactive approach to design management and has experience in a range of schemes across the residential, education and commercial sectors up to £100 million in value.
Leading the Claritas design team, Julien drives the ethos of collaboration through early engagement to ensure full interpretation of design aspirations and value objectives through all RIBA stages. His experience has greatly influenced the design function and has introduced Customer focussed processes and procedures that deliver quality and cost certainty and add value to our customers.
Aftab Rafiq
BA Hons FCCA
Finance & Development Director
Aftab joined Claritas Group as Finance and Development Director having spent seven years with Kier Group. Whilst at Kier, Aftab was involved in a number of successful social infrastructure projects; responsible for placing over £50m in equity and delivering assets valued over £750m. Prior to this Aftab worked for the Bilfinger Berger Group in its Investment and Infrastructure business.
Aftab is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant and has experience of project finance, investment and property development. He is also a co-opted member of the Development Committee for a G15 Registered Provider.