Persimmon plc

Persimmon plc
Public limited company
Traded as LSE: PSN
FTSE 100 Component
Industry Housebuilding
Founded 1972 (1972)
Headquarters York, England
Key people
 Nicholas Wrigley (Chairman)
Jeff Fairburn (CEO)
Revenue Increase £3,422.3 million (2017)[1]
Increase £955.1 million (2017)[1]
Increase £786.9 million (2017)[1]
Website www.persimmonhomes.com

Persimmon plc is a British housebuilding company, headquartered in York, England. The Company is named after a horse which won the 1896 Derby and St. Leger for the Prince of Wales. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

Persimmon was founded by Duncan Davidson in 1972. After leaving George Wimpey, Davidson had formed Ryedale Homes in 1965, selling it to Comben Homes in 1972 for £600,000. Davidson restarted development again in the Yorkshire area; Persimmon began to expand regionally with the formation of an Anglian division in 1976 followed by operations in the midlands and the south-west.[2] In 1984, Persimmon bought Tony Fawcett’s Sketchmead company; Fawcett had been a director of Ryedale and he became deputy managing director at Persimmon. The enlarged company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1985, by which time the Company was building around 1,000 houses a year.[3] Steady regional expansion took volumes up to 2,000 by 1988 with a target of 4,000 following the housing recession. Tony Fawcett had died in 1990 and in 1993 John White was appointed as chief executive with Davidson remaining as an executive chairman. In 1995, Persimmon made the first of a series of major acquisitions. Ideal Homes, once the largest housebuilder in the country and then part of Trafalgar House was bought for £176m giving the Group a much stronger presence in the south-east. This was followed by the purchase of the Scottish housing business of John Laing plc and Tilbury Douglas Homes.[2]

In 2001, Persimmon acquired Beazer Homes UK, for £612m, taking output to over 12,000 a year.[2] The deal came about after Beazer and Bryant announced a 'merger of equals' to create a new house builder called Domus.[4] However, Taylor Woodrow stepped in with a £556 million bid for Bryant, and Persimmon bought Beazer, a company named after its founder Brian Beazer, and originally started in Bath. The acquisition of Beazer brought with it Charles Church, a business founded by Charles and Susanna Church in 1965.[5]

In January 2006 Persimmon acquired Westbury, another listed UK house builder, for a total consideration of £643 million.[6]

In December 2017, Persimmon's chairman, Nicholas Wrigley, resigned over his role in awarding Jeff Fairburn, the CEO, a £128 million bonus.[7] The Persimmon bonus scheme is believed to be the UK's "most generous ever", and is scheduled to pay more than £800m to 150 senior staff from 31 December 2016.[7]

Community work

The Persimmon Charitable Foundation gives away millions of pounds to local good causes. The winner of its Healthy Communities prize of £200,000 in 2018 was Heart of England Boxing Club. [8] Persimmon’s Community Champions scheme gives away £60,000 every month to local good causes. [9] In 2012 Persimmon gave away a house to charity to celebrate its 40th birthday. The winner was the Harley Staples Cancer Trust.[10]

Persimmon provides over 4,500 jobs with a significant number of long serving employees.[11] In 2017 Persimmon built a new brick factory which will produce around 80 million house bricks every year.[12] Persimmon’s Combat to Construction scheme employs ex-military personnel and trains them to build homes. [13]

Operations

Driveway entrance to the offices of Persimmon plc in York

It builds homes under the Persimmon homes, Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships brands.[14]

Criticism

Persimmon has regularly come in for criticism due to poor build quality on a number of their homes. Examples include wiring up sockets dangerously giving the potential to shock, installing wobbly bannisters, laying turf on builder's rubble rather than on newly laid soil and radiators not properly fixed to the wall.[15][16][17][18][19]

In addition, Persimmon have been criticised for their sales and aftercare processes which do not always live up to the "enjoyable" and "stress free" experiences promised in the company's own pledge.[20]

In 2001 Persimmon was fined £125,000 following an employee being crushed to death. HSE investigating inspector Tony Mitchell said: "Companies need to ensure that all safety devices are fully operational. In this case properly fitted interlocks would have prevented access to the enclosure, and saved a life".[21]

In 2008 a boy was killed by a falling mantelpiece. Persimmon, which sub-contracted company KD Childs to fit the fireplaces, had not checked the standards and had never received documents about how fireplaces were fitted. A mantelpiece had previously fallen off at another Persimmon Home but it was treated as a "one-off" incident.[22]

In 2013, Persimmon sold a house with a garage that is too narrow for a car to fit into.[23]

In 2014 a toddler burnt his hand so badly by touching a hot metal sculpture owned by Persimmon Homes at a marina in Portishead, Somerset that he needed morphine and surgery.[24]

In 2016 an 18 month old suffered second degree burns on an unguarded, dangerously hot heater in the sales office at Coity Bridgend. Persimmon refused to issue a health and safety report.[25]

In 2018 a couple created signs warning potential neighbours against buying homes in their Newquay estate, citing multiple faults which Persimmon have, as of 19 July 2018, failed to correct, including patio doors which do not close properly, nails sticking out for their son to discover, and damp and mould resulting from poor plumbing.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results 2017" (PDF). Persimmon plc. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Wellings, Fred: Dictionary of British Housebuilders (2006) Troubador. ISBN 978-0-9552965-0-5
  3. ↑ Company Prospectus
  4. ↑ "BBC News - BUSINESS - Persimmon to enter Beazer race". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "About Charles Church". charleschurch.com. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "BBC NEWS - Business - UK housebuilders announce tie-up". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  7. 1 2 Neate, Rupert (15 December 2017). "Persimmon chair resigns over chief executive's 'obscene' £128m bonus". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. ↑ 07:56, 27 MAR 2018 (2018-03-27). "Boxing club under threat of closure wins £200k in national competition - Leicestershire Live". Leicestermercury.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  9. ↑ UK. "Persimmon Charity Programmes". Persimmonhomes.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  10. ↑ About Howard Lake (2012-09-27). "Leicester charity wins £250,000 house | UK Fundraising". Fundraising.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  11. ↑ "Corporate Profile". Persimmonhomes.com. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  12. ↑ Duncan, Hugo (2016-11-02). "Builder Persimmon forks out £10m on plant to make its own bricks amid booming demand for new homes". This is Money. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  13. ↑ "Combat to Construction Traineeship". Ctp.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  14. ↑ Persimmon: Corporate Profile
  15. ↑ BBC Watchdog: "More moans about new homes" Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ ITV New Homes from Hell
  17. ↑ "BBC NEWS - UK - England - Northamptonshire - Poorly-fixed lintel killed child". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "£30k damage after plumbing nightmare". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Dream homes turn into a nightmare for neighbours on Persimmon's Hunters Gate development in Grantham". Grantham Journal. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "Persimmon Homes BBC Watchdog". BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  21. ↑ Dan Stewart. "Persimmon fined £125,000 after crush death". Building. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Death of boy was caused by poorly fixed mantelpiece". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "GALLERY – Couple left fuming after finding garage at £200,000 Scissett home is too small for family cars". Examiner Live. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  24. ↑ "Toddler burnt by scorching sculpture". North Somerset Times. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  25. ↑ "Parents demand Persimmon Homes acts after toddler is badly burned". A spokesman said. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  26. ↑ "Persimmon homeowners in Newquay warn would-be buyers with signs". BBC News. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
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