GRAHAM appoints James Bravington as Midlands business development director

GRAHAM has appointed James Bravington as Business Development Director for the Midlands, replacing John Maguire, the first person the contractor employed in the region, who has retired after nearly a decade with the business.

Bravington joins from BAM Construction, where he worked for more than 20 years, GRAHAM said. He started there as an Assistant Quantity Surveyor, progressed to Senior Surveyor and latterly served as the firm's Business Development Manager.

In the new post he will lead business development across the Midlands, building on GRAHAM's live healthcare, education and residential projects to secure further work in the region, the company said.

Ronan Hughes, Regional Director for the Midlands at GRAHAM, said: "James's appointment is an important step in our ambitions for the Midlands. We're delivering across a range of sectors and see considerable scope to grow."

Hughes also paid tribute to Maguire, saying he had played a defining role in establishing GRAHAM in the region.

The pipeline he inherits

GRAHAM's current Midlands projects, according to the announcement, are a £59m purpose-built student accommodation scheme at Loughborough University, the £37m redevelopment of Castle Rock School in Coalville and the City Centre Cultural Gateway in Coventry, which GRAHAM values at £45m.

The Loughborough scheme will provide 552 bedspaces across five blocks of up to six storeys in the Central Park area of the campus, GRAHAM said when it broke ground. Air source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels form part of the energy strategy, and completion is scheduled for late summer 2027, ahead of the academic year.

At Castle Rock, GRAHAM's project announcement names both the Department for Education and Lionheart Educational Trust as the appointing clients, while the appointment release refers only to the DfE. The scheme was procured through the DfE's CF21 framework and will provide accommodation for up to 1,550 pupils. Enabling works began in February 2026, the building is due to be watertight in November 2026 and occupation is planned for January 2028.

Coventry City Council announced in March 2025 that GRAHAM had been appointed as the new contractor to complete the Cultural Gateway. Cllr Naeem Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities at the council, welcomed the appointment at the time.

Completed work in the region

GRAHAM said it recently completed a new clinical building at Birmingham Children's Hospital through NHS England's ProCure23 framework, increasing surgical capacity. The building, on Loveday Street, houses an intraoperative MRI machine funded by Birmingham Children's Hospital Charity's £1.5m appeal.

Other completed Midlands schemes listed by the company include the restoration of Birmingham's Grade II listed Grand Hotel as a 185-bedroom hotel, and Enterprise Wharf, a £30.4m, 120,000 sq ft office at Birmingham's Knowledge Quarter for Bruntwood SciTech. Bruntwood SciTech described Enterprise Wharf as an EPC A rated, 10-storey building designed by Associated Architects.

GRAHAM also cited i9 in Wolverhampton for Ion, The Barnum, a 348-home build-to-rent scheme in Nottingham for Grainger plc, and True Nottingham, a £70m, 661-bed student scheme on a former Royal Mail sorting office site for Bricks Group.

Scheme	Value stated by GRAHAM
True Nottingham	£70m
Loughborough University PBSA	£59m
City Centre Cultural Gateway, Coventry	£45m
Castle Rock School, Coalville	£37m
Enterprise Wharf, Birmingham	£30.4m

Group performance

The appointment follows a year of growth for the group. GRAHAM reported that revenue rose 16% to £1.23bn in the year to 31 March 2026, from £1.06bn, while profit before tax increased 42% to £35.8m.

Bravington, Business Development Director for the Midlands at GRAHAM, said: "The Midlands has a strong pipeline of opportunities across the public and private sectors, with clients looking for partners who understand their priorities and can help bring complex projects forward."

The next milestone on the regional pipeline is Castle Rock School, which is due to be watertight in November 2026.