Long-standing contractor boss will step down in November

Galliford Try’s chairman and former chief executive Greg Fitzgerald has announced he will retire from the business after 33 years in November.

Fitzgerald has been working on succession plans for Galliford Try in recent years, hiring Taylor Wimpey divisional boss Peter Truscott last year to become chief executive and deputy chairman Peter Ventress, also last year, to step up to chairman on his departure.

Fitzergald was named CEO of the year at the Building Awards 2015, honouring a long career of excellence in the industry.

Fitzgerald said: “I believe, following an effective transition that now is the right time to step down. I leave the business in an excellent financial position with a clear growth strategy.” 

In an accompanying trading statement, Galliford Try said it was trading in line with expectations ahaed of publication of full-year results to June in September.

The firm said it made good progress on margins over the year, although it said the overall result would still be “constrained by legacy contracts”.

Commenting on the EU referendum, the firm said “recent political events create a backdrop of uncertainty”, but said it was confident of the firm’s underlying strength to overcome this.

Chief executive Peter Truscott said: “The late-cycle nature and public sector focus of Construction are key advantages for the Group.

“The balance of our businesses and the strength of our order books mean that we are well-placed to manage the impact of this uncertainty.”

The firm maintained both strong overall and contracting order books, unchanged at £3.5bn and up marginally to £0.85bn from £8.25bn respectively.

At Linden Homes, completions rose to 3,078 units, up from 2,769 units.