Willmott Dixon has opened recruitment for 37 trainee positions starting in September 2027, as the contractor prepares to celebrate its 175th year in business.
The intake comprises 32 graduate and degree apprenticeship roles and five year-out placements across England and Wales, spanning disciplines including quantity surveying, site management, design, digital, sustainability, building services, planning and preconstruction.
The company’s management trainee programme has provided a route into senior leadership for several of its current executives. Executive chairman Rick Willmott, chief executive Graham Dundas, Interiors and Fortem chairman Chris Tredget, construction chief operating officer Stewart Brundell and Simon Ramage, managing director for North London and Northern Home Counties, all began their careers at the company as trainees.
Dundas joined as a management trainee in 1998 and became chief executive in 2024. Brundell, who started as a trainee site manager, was named the company’s first Trainee of the Year in 1989. The award has been contested annually ever since.
Dundas said: “It is part of our DNA to develop and promote our people and provide the opportunity for a career of a lifetime. For almost 50 years we have backed young people early, given them real responsibility on live projects and helped them grow into our future leaders.
“The 37 people who join us next September have an opportunity to shape this industry in the decades ahead.”
The recruitment drive comes as the CITB’s Construction Workforce Outlook 2026-2030 forecasts that the industry will need around 206,000 additional workers by 2030, equivalent to more than 41,000 a year.
Developing future leaders
Willmott Dixon launched its management trainee programme in 1979 with an initial intake of 20. Participants earn while they learn, studying part-time for a relevant degree or professional qualification with company support. Each receives a mentor and gains experience across the business before specialising.
The programme takes between two and five years, depending on the trainee’s entry route.
The company was ranked Europe’s fourth-best place to work in the 2025 FT Best Employers guide and named the best big construction company to work for in the 2025 Sunday Times Best Places to Work guide. Women make up 34% of its workforce, compared with an industry average of 16%, according to the company.
The largest share of the 2027 intake will be based in the north, with 11 positions across the north west, north east and Yorkshire. Seven roles are available in London and the east, six in the Midlands, five in Wales and the West, four at Willmott Dixon Interiors in London, three in the south and one in the strategic accounts and services team.
Applications are open until 22 November 2026. The company is seeking applicants from a range of backgrounds, including school leavers, graduates and people looking to change careers.
The recruitment process comprises an online application and video interview, followed by an assessment day for shortlisted candidates.
To apply, visit Willmott Dixon management trainee vacancies.
