Turbocharging Wolverhampton's Economic Growth

Building Brum

Today we’re in Wolverhampton, joined by James Dickens, Managing Director of Wavensmere Homes; Councillor Chris Burden, Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs, and Skills and Rebecca Bennett-Casserly, Corporate Director of Development at Walsall Housing Group (whg). Together, we explore how Wolverhampton is driving economic growth through ambitious housing developments and regeneration projects.

The City of Wolverhampton is leading the way with multi-million-pound investments in social housing and partnerships with major developers to deliver thousands of new homes. Tune in to discover what’s fueling investment, boosting confidence, and transforming the city’s construction landscape.
The Building Brum podcast is kindly sponsored by reality capture and point cloud modelling specialists ScanTech Digital, Solus, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of commercial floor and wall tiles, APIC UK Limited West Bromwich based Architectural Glazing specialists, EH Smith brick and façade specialists, and Sunbelt Rentals with over 1,500,000 items of equipment Sunbelt Rentals are the largest providers of equipment hire in the UK.

Rebecca Bennett Casserly - Corporate Director of Development - Walsall Housing Group

Armed with a housing and development degree, Rebecca began her career honing her technical specialism in development management within the housing association sector with Bromford Group. She went onto work for large private sector construction and engineering organisations, including Arcadis and Balfour Beatty, and later founded her own small consultancy providing coaching and residential services.

Rebecca sets our development strategy and leads her commercial and technical teams in its delivery. Her portfolio includes regeneration, new business and partnerships, construction, programme management (new supply) and sales & marketing.

She is passionate about creating resilient and sustainable communities, about partnership working and the power of collaboration.

Cllr Chris Burden - Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs, and Skills - City of Wolverhampton Council
Cllr Chris Burden was recently awarded the LGIU Young Councillor of the Year Award, and is the youngest person to ever hold a Cabinet Position at Wolverhampton. He is also a PhD Candidate at Aston University, where he is completing research on political communications and social media use in Britain, France, and Germany.
Chris’ interests lie in sustainable development, densification of city and town centres, and the creation of new urban communities.

James Dickens - Managing Director - Wavensmere Homes

42-year-old James Dickens grew up in Birmingham and was educated at Bromsgrove School, then obtained his BA in Economics from the University of Leeds.

He commenced his career in construction, property portfolio management, and the development of individual houses for private clients across the Midlands. James is now nationally respected by his peers and the industry press, and regarded as one of the UK’s most prominent leaders of an SME housebuilding firm.

James established Wavensmere Homes in 2015, setting out to uncover sites with soul to reanimate, by taking inspiration from the unique historic character. The multi-award winning housebuilder handed over the keys to 522 homes during 2023, and recently hit the major milestone of 1,500 completed homes since its inception. The business and its associated SPVs are on track to achieve a £115m turnover during 2024.