Berkeley has announced that chief executive Rob Perrins will become executive chair of the group in September.
Michael Dobson, the current chairman, will step down while the current chief financial officer, Richard Stearn, will take on the role of chief executive. Perrins has been CEO at Berkeley since 2009 and Stearn has held the role of CFO since 2015.
The announcement comes as part of Berkeley’s new ten-year strategy, Berkeley 2035, and the housebuilder says that the changes were made after “careful consideration”.
A spokesperson from Berkeley said: “Appointing Rob as executive chair will provide assurance to key stakeholders, including our people and the leaders in national and local government, of the continuity in leadership needed at this time. It resolves succession in a way that retains the Berkeley culture and values. Once the consultation process has been completed, any further board changes will be announced, including the appointment of a new CFO, a role for which there are strong internal candidates who have been with Berkeley for a number of years.”
Berkeley’s non-executive director, William Jackson, will also step down in September while Richard Dakin, who most recently was the head of CBRE’s European investment banking, debt and structured finance, will join the board.
As part of today’s announcement, Berkeley said that its pre-tax profit for the year stood at £528.9million for the year, a fall of 5.1% on the previous year.
Rob Perrins said: “Berkeley has delivered £528.9million of pre-tax profit for the year, with net cash at £337.3million, in spite of ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility. With over 75% of sales secured for the coming year, we are well-placed to achieve our FY26 pre-tax profit guidance of £450million. This represents an excellent operational performance with highly disciplined execution and close control of costs. We have added long-term value to the business, both in our land holdings and through our Build-to-Rent platform, while returning £381.5million to shareholders; a great start to the Berkeley 2035 strategy.”
“There is good underlying demand for our homes, with transaction volumes gradually improving over the course of the year. However, consumer confidence remains finely balanced and a more meaningful recovery requires both improved sentiment and macroeconomic stability.”
“Under our new Berkeley 2035 strategy announced in December, Berkeley can allocate £5billion of capital to new investment over the ten-year period, including delivering 4,000 homes for rent through our own BtR platform.”
