Barratt Developments CEO steps down, to be replaced by CFO

27th Mar 2015 07:25

Barratt Developments chief executive Mark Clare has stepped down after nine years in the role, to be replaced by finance director David Thomas, who has been with the company for six years.Clare will leave the housebuilder on 1 July, leaving the group in a strong position, with recent interim profits up by over 70% and well ahead of expectations.However, analysts had criticised his future strategy as rather unambitious.The company, which has already begun the process of recruiting a new finance director, said Clare will remain on the board until October to ensure an orderly handover.Chairman John Allan said Clare will leave a "tremendous legacy", having played an important role in the wider industry in terms of shaping housing policy and addressing the longer term challenges the sector faces."He has transformed the operations of the company, led a very successful land investment strategy and realigned the business around its customers." "In David Thomas, the board is extremely pleased to have such a strong successor in place. David has played a key role in developing the Group's strategy, driving performance and embedding the disciplined approach that has served us so well."Thomas pointed to the strong improvements in shareholder returns in recent years and said the company had a clear strategy in place to continue this progress.Clare said he was stepping down to focus on his non-executive portfolio.Broker Shore Capital said Thomas "should be a good appointment - always good to have a Scottish accountant running things in our view - but hopefully this will lead to a little more dynamism on the strategy"."Barratt is beginning to look a little unambitious in its plans after 2016 with minimal growth planned and it would be good to see the larger house builders being prepared to drive ahead a little more forcefully. Bellway has shown that the large house builders do not need to stagnate."