December 2017/January 2018 – BIM
As the UK’s housing crisis deepens, Jeff Fairburn, CEO of top 10 house-builder Persimmon, walks off with an eye-watering £100m+ bonus.
Is this proportionate to his skill and hard work as CEO? Of course not.
Much of Persimmon’s recent success is thanks to the government’s Help to Buy scheme, which has boosted sales of new homes but done nothing to increase their availability.
Fairburn’s loot is the lion’s share of a £500m bonus pay-out to senior Persimmon executives this year. Think how many badly-needed new homes that
could build.
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s autumn budget introduced measures designed to loosen the major house-builders’ grip on the market and get more small firms building.
Persimmon’s performance suggests that should
be just the first step toward more radical reform of the market.
David Taylor
Editor
Features