Willmott Dixon is targeting substantial healthcare growth in the North following its appointment to the NHS ProCure 21+ framework.

Spearheading this will be the company’s new regional health manager, Matthew Wall, who joins from Community Solutions and will lead a team focused on securing new health sector opportunities in the North West, Yorkshire and North East resulting from the framework.

Although using the framework is not compulsory for health authorities, it has become the most popular route for procuring NHS capital projects, with over £2bn spent during the previous framework and the Department of Health predicting that £4.5bn of work will be procured through it over the next six years.

Matthew, who will be based at Willmott Dixon’s Manchester office, says, “Bringing both client side knowledge and project management expertise, my role will be to maximise opportunities on the ProCure 21+ framework by developing relationships with various NHS organisations and health authorities to ensure we are well placed for future capital projects."

At Community Solutions, Matthew was responsible for implementing bespoke, tailor-made projects for public sector clients in the North West.

Jon Taylor, Willmott Dixon’s pre-construction director for the North, added: "While the construction industry does face a contraction in public spending, we are seeing a number of significant health projects coming through the framework. Matthew is our ‘key signing’ for how we develop these, building on our excellent reputation in the North for developing strong relationships with clients on various frameworks.”

Willmott Dixon’s national health team is led by Michael Clarke, and Matthew will work closely with Michael as the company’s framework specialist in the north of the country. The NHS ProCure 21+ framework went live on the 1st October 2010 and has six construction companies in total.