Identity & Authority: Wates Group – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

Wates Group

(https://wates.co.uk) 📸 Data Snapshot: June 20, 2026
Identity & Authority — The Lens

Inspect the JSON-LD. Is there an Organization or Person schema, and does it carry sameAs links to real external profiles (LinkedIn, socials)? Missing schema or no identity declaration signals an anonymous entity.

Identity & Authority Expert verifiability & Schema depth.
12 Impact Weight: 15 / 100
80% Reputation

Authority is well-established through the naming of specific directors like Nick Laugharne and Victoria George-Taylor on the Land Development page. A minor gap exists in the schema_json, which lacks ‘sameAs’ links to external professional profiles (LinkedIn) or ‘Person’ schema to verify the digital footprint of these experts. Technical implementation is clean, with a logical heading hierarchy and detailed JSON-LD graphs.

The marketing tone is aspirational, but the disconnect is minimal because bold claims are backed by dated data. For example, the claim of being ‘one of the largest’ is supported by a 2025 turnover figure. The ‘industry leading’ 98 percent planning success rate is a high-risk claim that Wates supports by defining the date range (since 2005) and the specific sector (land promotion).

Identity & Authority is read from the structured data first: whether the site declares who it is in machine-readable schema, with verifiable identity links. Below is the schema captured per page, then the external proof links that support (or fail to support) that identity.

🔗 Identity & Technical Layer — schema JSON-LD: identity chains, entity gaps
Homepage schema
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "WebPage",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "name": "Wates | Development, Construction, Engineering, Property Services",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#primaryimage"
            },
            "image": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#primaryimage"
            },
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Wates-homepage.png",
            "datePublished": "2022-05-20T14:33:04+00:00",
            "dateModified": "2026-05-05T10:10:01+00:00",
            "description": "The Wates Group is one of the largest family-owned construction, development and property services companies in the UK.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#breadcrumb"
            },
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "ReadAction",
                    "target": [
                        "https://www.wates.co.uk/"
                    ]
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#primaryimage",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Wates-homepage.png",
            "contentUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Wates-homepage.png",
            "width": 1880,
            "height": 706,
            "caption": "Wates homepage"
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "name": "Wates",
            "description": "UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies.",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "SearchAction",
                    "target": {
                        "@type": "EntryPoint",
                        "urlTemplate": "https://www.wates.co.uk/?s={search_term_string}"
                    },
                    "query-input": {
                        "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification",
                        "valueRequired": true,
                        "valueName": "search_term_string"
                    }
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB"
        }
    ]
}
/projects/
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/",
            "name": "Projects Archive - Wates",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/#primaryimage"
            },
            "image": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/#primaryimage"
            },
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/502033_N75.jpg",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/#breadcrumb"
            },
            "inLanguage": "en-GB"
        },
        {
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/#primaryimage",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/502033_N75.jpg",
            "contentUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/502033_N75.jpg",
            "width": 2400,
            "height": 1600,
            "caption": "Halton Leisure centre pool"
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/projects/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://www.wates.co.uk/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Projects"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "name": "Wates",
            "description": "UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies.",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "SearchAction",
                    "target": {
                        "@type": "EntryPoint",
                        "urlTemplate": "https://www.wates.co.uk/?s={search_term_string}"
                    },
                    "query-input": {
                        "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification",
                        "valueRequired": true,
                        "valueName": "search_term_string"
                    }
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB"
        }
    ]
}
/services/develop/land-development/
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "WebPage",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/",
            "name": "Land Promotion - Wates",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/#primaryimage"
            },
            "image": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/#primaryimage"
            },
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R_221124_N3.jpg",
            "datePublished": "2023-09-13T13:41:09+00:00",
            "dateModified": "2026-05-13T07:52:01+00:00",
            "description": "We identify and promote land in areas which need new homes and work with landowners to unlock the value of land and obtain [planning consent.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/#breadcrumb"
            },
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "ReadAction",
                    "target": [
                        "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/"
                    ]
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/#primaryimage",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R_221124_N3.jpg",
            "contentUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/R_221124_N3.jpg",
            "width": 1920,
            "height": 1336
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/land-development/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://www.wates.co.uk/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Develop",
                    "item": "https://www.wates.co.uk/services/develop/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Land Promotion"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "name": "Wates",
            "description": "UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies.",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "SearchAction",
                    "target": {
                        "@type": "EntryPoint",
                        "urlTemplate": "https://www.wates.co.uk/?s={search_term_string}"
                    },
                    "query-input": {
                        "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification",
                        "valueRequired": true,
                        "valueName": "search_term_string"
                    }
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB"
        }
    ]
}
/sectors/commercial/
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "WebPage",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/",
            "name": "Commercial - Wates",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/#primaryimage"
            },
            "image": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/#primaryimage"
            },
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/511253_N20_medium.jpg",
            "datePublished": "2022-12-22T13:32:17+00:00",
            "dateModified": "2026-04-17T13:26:18+00:00",
            "description": "We are a market leader in providing high-quality, sustainable office and commercial workspace across the UK.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/#breadcrumb"
            },
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "ReadAction",
                    "target": [
                        "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/"
                    ]
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/#primaryimage",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/511253_N20_medium.jpg",
            "contentUrl": "https://www.wates.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/511253_N20_medium.jpg",
            "width": 1280,
            "height": 853,
            "caption": "Wellington Place high quality commercial office development in Leeds"
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/sectors/commercial/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://www.wates.co.uk/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Commercial"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://www.wates.co.uk/#website",
            "url": "https://www.wates.co.uk/",
            "name": "Wates",
            "description": "UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies.",
            "potentialAction": [
                {
                    "@type": "SearchAction",
                    "target": {
                        "@type": "EntryPoint",
                        "urlTemplate": "https://www.wates.co.uk/?s={search_term_string}"
                    },
                    "query-input": {
                        "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification",
                        "valueRequired": true,
                        "valueName": "search_term_string"
                    }
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB"
        }
    ]
}
🛡️ Trust Signals — external proof links that back the declared identity
18Review mentions (all pages)
7External proof links (all pages)
PageReviewsProof links
/ (home) 4 1
/projects/ 6 2
/services/develop/land-development/ 4 2
/sectors/commercial/ 4 2