Wakemans Launches Specialist Division with Appointment of Senior Industry Veteran

Wakemans are pleased to announce the launch of our new Specialist Support Services division, a significant step in the development of our business that substantially broadens the advisory capability, especially in construction claims support, we can offer to clients across the UK.

The new division brings together a comprehensive suite of commercial dispute resolution, project risk advisory and supply-chain financial management services, sitting alongside our established disciplines in Project Management, Cost Management, Building Surveying, Principal Designer/CDM and Expert Witness. It has been created to meet growing demand from clients who need specialist advisory support at the points where construction and development projects encounter their greatest commercial pressure.

We work with some of the UK’s most recognised names across logistics, industrial development, hospitality and commercial property, among them Travelodge, Indurent, Stoford, DHL and St Francis Group, and the launch of this division ensures we can offer those clients, and new ones, a genuinely end-to-end service from a single trusted partner.

To lead the development and launch of the division, we have appointed Richard Lyndon as Executive Director. Richard brings close to four decades of experience spanning construction, engineering, energy, oil and gas, and international capital projects, with a career that has taken him from private practice quantity surveying in the UK through to board-level executive roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Over that time, he has accumulated more than 22 years of hands-on commercial contracting experience, encompassing high-value capital project delivery, complex dispute resolution, international arbitration, contract negotiation and distressed project recovery on schemes with values reaching into the billions. He also holds several academic and professional qualifications across Law, Finance and Management.

Dean Watson, Joint Managing Director, said: “The launch of our Specialist Support Services division represents an important step in the development of Wakemans. It deepens our capability in areas where clients increasingly need specialist support, and ensures we can offer a genuinely comprehensive service from a single, trusted partner. Appointing Richard to lead this division brings significant expertise and credibility to the offering from day one.”

Richard previously served as a Director of Wakemans in the 1990s, where he founded and led a specialist division delivering litigation support, insolvency management and project recovery services, giving him a deep understanding of our business, our values and the clients we serve. It is that experience, and that established relationship, that makes him ideally placed to lead this new chapter.

Whether a project is navigating a contractual dispute, managing a claim, recovering margin under pressure or requiring an embedded commercial resource within the supply chain, our Specialist Support Services division is structured to intervene effectively at every stage of the project lifecycle. Its expertise spans the full range of dispute resolution disciplines, from quantum, delay and disruption analysis through to forensic investigation, insurance claims support and formal arbitration advocacy, as well as independent project auditing, risk advisory, funding and financing monitoring, and insolvency support services.

Shaun Baugh, Joint Managing Director, added: “This new division reflects the natural evolution of our business and our ambition to offer clients more. Richard’s depth of experience in complex commercial and advisory work is exactly what is needed to build this service to the standard our clients expect. We are delighted to have him on board.”

Richard Lyndon said: “I am delighted to be re-engaging with Wakemans and to be leading the launch of this new division. The firm has an excellent reputation and a strong client base, and I see a significant opportunity to develop a specialist advisory capability that will add real value in the market, especially in construction claims support. I look forward to building something that reflects the quality and ambition of the wider Wakemans business.”