Vistry boss willing to stay on beyond next year

Vistry Group chief executive Greg Fitzgerald has said he intends to stay in his role past 2022, reversing an earlier decision to stand down next year.

Fitzgerald has already retired once from the sector, leaving his position as chief executive of Galliford Try in 2015 after a decade at the helm.

He came out of retirement to lead ailing Bovis Homes in 2017, after the departure of chief executive David Ritchie following a profit warning and amid speculation the company could be bought out.

He then led the group in its acquisition of Galliford Try’s partnerships business and house builder Linden Homes in 2020, and initially indicated he would stand down at the end of next year.

Bit in a stock market announcement today, Vistry said: “The Board of Vistry Group PLC is pleased to confirm that Greg Fitzgerald has indicated his willingness to continue as chief executive officer beyond the end of 2022.”

Vistry last month raised year-end profit expectations for the second time in less than four months. It announced a pre-tax profit of £156m for the half year to June 30 and said pre-tax profit for the full year would be up by around 5% to £345m.

It said this was due to a strong operational performance and “positive customer demand” in July and August. It had already increased adjusted pre-tax expectations from £310m to £325m in May.

The business is aiming to build 8,000 homes per year from its traditional housebuilding business in the “medium term”, at the same time as raising annual revenue from the partnerships business, currently around £1bn, to £1.6bn within five years.