Barnwood building a leadership fit for the future
Summary
Barnwood’s Construction division is preparing for new leadership with the appointment of Will Steel to join Stuart Pearce as joint managing director. Dave Piper has stepped down to make way for Will and remains a board director. Barnwood Construction division is part of Gloucester-based Barnwood Limited, which has three divisions – Construction, Shopfitting & Interiors, and General Works.
Details
With a turnover last year of £118m, it employs 230 people and in 2025 was involved in over 340 projects across the UK. Will, aged 37, has been with Barnwood for seven years, having previously worked at a local tier one contractor. Will said: “I’ve got big shoes to fill, but we’ve been building a very strong team for the last five years.
I’m lucky to have very good people around me, like Paul Fowles and Dylan Hill, construction and estimating directors respectively, together with a fantastic team of dedicated professionals” Barnwood has over 70 employees in its Construction division which has an annual turnover of around £80 million.
In the past year, the Construction division has been involved in numerous projects, in Gloucestershire and much further afield. Locally, Barnwood have continued their successful relationship with Gloucestershire County Council, completing Northway school in Tewkesbury and Southfields children’s services facility in Stroud.
A new sports hall at Pittville school is in progress, with a new care home in Stonehouse, and Fire Training and Highways Facilities in Cheltenham, in pre-construction stage. Barnwood is also currently working on a major warehouse development at Kestrel Park in Avonmouth for Chancerygate.
Other major construction projects completed in the past year include those at Birdworld Playbarn in Farnham and the Nebula development at Milton Park in Oxfordshire. Also in Oxfordshire, live schemes include those at Wood Green School in Witney, Valley Park Academy in Didcot, and the impressive Grove Business Park in Wantage. Stuart Pearce and Dave Piper have been with Barnwood for 26 years and 23 years respectively.
Both will step down to a well-deserved retirement in April 2027. Stuart said: “I am reassured that the future of Barnwood is in safe hands with Will, Dylan and Paul continuing to build on the ethos established in 1962. That continuity is really important to me and it gives me confidence in the ongoing leadership and direction of the business as we move through this transition period.
“The secret to our success is that we’re friendly and collaborative, putting reputation at the centre of all we do. “It’s about being open and honest with clients and suppliers alike, building a reputation over 60 years on quality, trust and reliability”. Looking back over Barnwood’s long and successful history, group chairman Simon Carey added: “Fundamentally, I think doing business is still the same.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester