Persimmon chairman vows: ‘We will change’

HUMBLED bosses at Persimmon will radically overhaul the housebuilder to put rows over fat cat pay and shoddy workmanship behind them.

At its annual general meeting, new chairman Roger Devlin admitted that sweeping changes were needed to restore the firm’s damaged reputation.

The 60-year-old said improving customer service and quality of homes at Persimmon were his top priorities, adding: ‘I promise that we’re changing.’

Investors appeared to take on board the message, with 7.8pc opposing the remuneration report, compared with nearly 50pc last year.

But they put bosses on notice, with Standard Life’s Euan Stirling warning: ‘It remains a long way behind the standards expected of it by shareholders, employees, policy-makers and, most importantly, its customers. That is a dangerous place to be.’

Devlin said Persimmon was now paying rank-and-file staff more and would change rules for bosses’ bonus after its former chief executive Jeff Fairburn was paid £85m in two years. The Mail understands that this could see performance pay for top executives linked to customer service and building quality targets.

Devlin said it would no longer put shareholder value before everything else. He added: ‘In the future we will have a wider purpose, and we will measure health in terms of our relationships with customers, employees, suppliers and all our stakeholders.’

Persimmon faced a fierce backlash over Fairburn’s pay. His successor Dave Jenkinson has earned around £45m in the last two years as he benefited from the same bonus scheme.

Persimmon has also been blasted for the poor quality and safety of some of its homes, issues highlighted by the Mail.