Mark Knight has stepped down from his role of chief executive of Gleeson Homes and left the business as part of a cost-saving restructuring. His post has been made redundant with a chief operating officer role being created instead.
Knight had joined Gleason from Keepmoat in 2019.
The reorganisation is designed to shorten reporting lines and strengthen regional management was implemented on the back of shortcomings in commercial delivery.
Issues around process and compliance with procedures within the business, resulting in cost overruns, were identified in the summer of 2024.聽 Immediate actions did not fully address these. Build costs continued to rise and selling prices stayed flat.
Planning delays pushed back the opening of new higher-margin sites and further costs arose from legacy site issues. This meant that the margin improvement expected in the second half of the year did not materialise.
A comprehensive review of the business, under the banner of Project Transform, was initiated in the autumn.
Under the restructuring, Gleeson Homes will retain its current six regions within two divisions:
- Northern division: East Yorkshire and Tees Valley/Tyne & Wear regions
- Central division: Greater Manchester/Merseyside, Cumbria, Midlands and South/West Yorkshire regions
Greater Manchester/Merseyside and Cumbria, while remaining separate regions, are now run by a single leadership team to save money.
The northern division will continue to be run by Andy Davies.聽 The central division will be run by Scott Stothard who is joining the business from Vistry where he was a divisional chair.聽
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 report to group chief executive Graham Prothero.
The cost of the reorganisation has been put at 拢1.2m.
MJ Gleeson chief executive 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.聽聽聽
"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.聽 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."
In an unrelated move, former Land Securities finance director Fiona Goldsmith, who took over as interim chair in April after James Thomson stood down, has now been confirmed as chair of the board.
James Thomson had previously been Mark Knight's chief executive at Keepmoat.
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