Gleeson Homes has announced that Mark Knight will step down from his role as chief executive as part of a reorganisation of its operations.
Knight’s redundancy comes as part of a cost-saving restructure, with Gleeson creating a chief operating officer role instead.
In summer 2024, Gleeson identified issues around compliance and process in the company, which had resulted in cost overruns. The housebuilder also felt the impact of rising build costs, coupled with selling prices remaining flat, while planning delays saw the opening of a number of high-margin sites being pushed back. As a result, Gleeson’s predicted margin improvement in the latter part of the year failed to materialise.
The housebuilder launched ‘Project Transform’, a comprehensive review of the business, in autumn 2024. Gleeson said that the restructuring will aim to shorten reporting lines and strengthen regional management.
In addition to Knight leaving his role and the company, several other changes have been implemented by Gleeson:
• Its Greater Manchester/Merseyside and Cumbria, while staying as separate regions, will now be led by a single leadership team.
• Gleeson’s Northern division will continue to be run by Andy Davies, while the Central division will be run by Scott Stothard, who joins the business from Vistry.
• Simon Topliss, previously Gleeson Homes’ finance director, has been appointed to the newly created role of chief operating officer, with responsibility for central functions.
All three positions will report to group chief executive, Graham Prothero.
Commenting on the restructure, Graham Prothero, said: “This was a challenging year for Gleeson. As well as external factors, it had become clear that our commercial delivery was not where we needed it to be. Over the last nine months we have therefore been implementing at pace management changes which will significantly benefit the business through FY2026 and beyond.”
“These changes will also ensure the delivery of our strategic objectives.”
“Whilst we do not expect any significant economic recovery in the short-term, we are maintaining a robust sales rate. This, along with our remedial actions, gives me confidence that we have a stronger business which will deliver our projections for the current year and our significant growth plans over the medium-term.”
