Software payments racket plunders veteran – who didn’t even own a computer Financial Mail
We track down disgraced ex-boss of Persimmon STILL hogging huge bonus But just like Scrooge, he offers no hope to charities – despite pledge to share millions
HE WAS booted out in disgrace last year after pocketing an £85 million bonus fuelled by taxpayer subsidies. But at least former Persimmon housebuilder boss Jeff Fairburn had promised to donate a ‘substantial proportion’ to charity. Last night, though, questions were being asked about whether Fairburn intended to keep his word after he refused to confirm his plans to The Mail on Sunday.
We tracked Fairburn down to his luxury house in Durham on Friday to grill him on the donation – just days after his legacy was torn to shreds by a report into shoddy workmanship at Persimmon.
Fairburn had pledged in February 2018 to set up a private charitable trust following public outrage about his then £130million bonus, which was later reduced. However, nearly two years on, no charity has yet been set up in his name.
When asked by the MoS at his house whether he had established a charity yet, Fairburn, wearing only a dressing gown, said: ‘It’s not really convenient [to talk] at the moment.’
Pressed on what the charity would be called, what it would do and when he would reveal the details, Fairburn said: ‘Can you let me have a think about it?’
The MoS returned later to deliver a letter to Fairburn offering him a final opportunity to respond to our questions. But his wife Jayne – who was handed millions of pounds of Persimmon bonus shares by her husband – answered the door and refused to accept it.
Fairburn’s latest embarrassment comes after a damning report into Persimmon’s culture of greed under his leadership.
Stephanie Barwise QC – who was tasked by the FTSE100 firm’s new chairman Roger Devlin with carrying out an independent review – criticised the firm for poor building quality and fire safety issues in its homes and said it had prioritised profits over high standards.
She labelled Persimmon ‘more a land assembler and house-seller’ than a ‘housebuilder’ and added: ‘If the board wishes Persimmon to be a builder of quality homes, meeting all relevant build and safety standards, then it should reconsider Persimmon’s purpose and ambition.’
Critics have accused Persimmon of cashing in on the taxpayerfunded Help to Buy scheme, which was set up to help people get on the housing ladder.
After public outrage in early 2018, Fairburn said he would use a ‘substantial proportion’ of his total bonus to ‘support the charities that are particularly important to me and my family’. He was later forced to take a cut in the bonus to around £85million when his charity plans failed to quell the controversy. He was ousted last year over his handling of the row.
Now he faces tough questions after The Charity Commission said it has no record of a trust set up in his name. SHARES paid out under the bonus scheme to Fairburn are currently worth just over £90million, following a rise in the price, which received a boost on the day of the Election result. The Mail on Sunday first revealed the bonus controversy in November 2017. Two weeks later, the then chairman Nicholas Wrigley and senior independent director Jonathan Davie stepped down over their role in the scheme.
Wrigley is said to have urged
Fairburn to donate some of his bonus to charity to quash public anger, but he refused at the time.
The bonus share scheme, from which 130 senior managers cashed in, was established in 2012, a year before Help to Buy was launched. Since then, Persimmon’s share price has soared by five times. Half the 16,000 homes it built last year were sold under the scheme.
Fairburn clung on to his job until a disastrous BBC interview in which he refused to answer questions about the bonus.
Dave Jenkinson officially took over from Fairburn in February after taking charge on an interim basis. Jenkinson previously served as managing director and pocketed £40million from the highly controversial bonus pot.
He is now tasked with overhauling Persimmon’s culture.
Barwise, a senior barrister who represented some victims of the Grenfell fire tragedy, praised Devlin, who replaced Wrigley and fired Fairburn, for commissioning the review.
Devlin said: ‘This review – and the seriousness that we attach to its detailed findings – is an important moment for Persimmon as we continue to build a different business with an increased focus on our customers and wider stakeholders – becoming a business that prioritises purpose as well as profit.’
He also apologised to customers for the company’s failings.
Persimmon had already pledged to invest more in the quality of its homes. However, analysts estimate that the company’s operating margins will still be over 30 per cent – well above the industry average.