Former Galliford Try boss Greg Fitzgerald has joined Bovis Homes as its new chief executive.
Fitzgerald will take over at Bovis with effect from 18 April when interim chief executive Earl Sibley will resume his role as the housebuilder’s group finance director.
The announcement comes amid the decision by Bovis Homes to reject merger talks with Galliford Try as it believed that an independent strategy under the leadership of Fitzgerald would deliver greater value for shareholders.
The embattled housebuilder has had a tough few months. In February it posted a fall in pretax profit from £160m to £154.7m for the year ending 31 December. It also announced it would be slowing the pace of building in 2017 after taking a £7m hit related to complaints about unfinished properties, including electrical and plumbing faults.
In January, chief executive David Ritchie departed after the company issued a profit warning over Christmas.
Following Fitzgerald’s appointment, Bovis said it would focus on resetting the business and driving operational improvements through cost efficiencies, more effective build processes and improvements in quality.
Fitzgerald has more than three decades of housebuilding experience under his belt. He was chief executive of Galliford Try for about 10 years before stepping down in 2015.
He won plaudits for helping the construction and housing group weather the financial crisis in 2008.
One of his big calls was to undertake a rights issue to raise £125m in 2009, at the bottom of the housing market, which enabled Galliford Try to buy up large tracts of land in the South East cheaply to build new homes. Within three years it had doubled the size of its housing division.
Speaking about his appointment, Ian Tyler, non-executive chairman of Bovis, said: “We are delighted that Greg has agreed to be our new chief executive. He brings a wealth of housebuilding experience and I am confident he will rapidly drive performance across the Bovis business.”
