Jeff Fairburn

Last updated

Jeff Fairburn
Born
Jeffrey Fairburn

(1966-05-22) 22 May 1966 (age 56)
York, England
Education Fulford Comprehensive
Alma mater York Technical College
OccupationBusinessman
Known for£75m bonus accepted while CEO of Persimmon plc (2013-2018)
TitleCEO, Berkeley DeVeer
Term2020-present

Jeffrey Fairburn (born 22 May 1966) is a British businessman, currently chief executive of Berkeley DeVeer, a Yorkshire-based house-builder.

Contents

Fairburn was previously CEO of Persimmon plc, a British housebuilding company and constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, from April 2013 to November 2018. In March 2017, he agreed to give a "substantial portion" of a £75 million bonus to charity, but, as of February 2021, no charitable involvement has been confirmed (however, in British law, private philanthropy without fundraising does not require the status of being a registered charity).

Early life

Jeffrey Fairburn was born on 22 May 1966. [1] [2] He is the son of a motor mechanic father, grew up in York, and left Fulford Comprehensive at the age of 17. [2]

Career

After leaving school, Fairburn joined a two-year youth training scheme in York to become a quantity surveyor, working, and training for a Higher National Certificate (HNC) qualification at York Technical College. [2]

Fairburn joined Persimmon in 1989, becoming CEO in April 2013. [3] He was removed in November 2018 following a shareholder rebellion led by Aberdeen Standard Investments. [4]

As of December 2017, Fairburn had been a director of 305 UK companies. [1]

In December 2017, Persimmon's chairman, Nicholas Wrigley, resigned over his role in awarding Fairburn a bonus in the region of £100 million. [5] The Persimmon bonus scheme is believed to be the UK's "most generous ever", and was scheduled to pay more than £500 million to 150 senior staff from 31 December 2016. [5]

In March 2017, Fairburn agreed to hand back £25 million of the bonus and set aside a "substantial portion" of the sum to charity, bringing the total payout to £75 million. [6] [7] In October 2018, he walked off camera during a BBC Look North interview, after his press officer objected to his being asked about the bonus. His parting words to the reporter were "I think that's very unfortunate actually that you've done that." In November 2018, Persimmon asked Fairburn to leave the company. [8]

The controversy around Fairburn continued in November 2019 when some politicians and campaigners urged him to reveal whether he has donated a portion of his controversial £75m bonus as he promised, as it appeared no charity had been set up in his name. A year after he was forced to step down, the Charity Commission said it had no record of a trust bearing Fairburn's name, nor did he appear as a trustee of any charity in England or Wales. [9] And no charity involvement could be identified 15 months later, in February 2021. [10] He said, in a January 2020 This Is Money interview, that this was because it was private; in British law there is no requirement for private philanthropy to be registered as a charity when there is no fundraising over £5,000. [11]

In January 2020, Fairburn bought a 50% stake in Wetherby, Yorkshire-based house-builder Berkeley DeVeer and became its chief executive. [10] [12] In April 2021, Berkeley DeVeer partnered with Elliott Advisors to acquire Derbyshire-based housebuilder Avant Homes Group. [13] After Elliott Advisors also built a stake in Taylor Wimpey, there was speculation that Fairburn might take over as the rival housebuilder's CEO, but this was dismissed in December 2021. [14]

In March 2023, Fairburn set up a Durham-based private investment company, Third Stone Investments, with his wife, Jayne. [15]

Personal life

Fairburn drives a Range Rover, enjoys Formula One racing, and his holiday destination of choice is Florida. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Bezos</span> American business magnate (born 1964)

Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. With a net worth of US$125 billion as of April 2023, Bezos is the third-wealthiest person in the world and was the wealthiest from 2017 to 2021, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Immelt</span> American businessman

Jeffrey Robert Immelt is an American business executive currently working as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates. He previously served as the CEO of General Electric from 2001 to 2017, and the CEO of GE's Medical Systems division from 1997 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barratt Developments</span> UK Residential property development company

Barratt Developments plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It was founded in 1958 as Greensitt Bros., but control was later assumed by Sir Lawrie Barratt. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyne but is now located at David Wilson's former offices in Coalville, Leicestershire. It has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1968, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Vistry Group, formerly Bovis Homes Group, is a British house-building company based in Kings Hill, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

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.

Stephen Peter Morgan is an English businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder of the housebuilders Redrow plc, a former chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., and founder of the charitable Steve Morgan Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Wimpey</span> British home construction company

Taylor Wimpey plc is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylor Woodrow Construction</span>

Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the former Taylor Woodrow group and from Vinci UK - formerly Norwest Holst.

Fulford School is a coeducational comprehensive school on Fulfordgate near Heslington Lane in Fulford, York, England.

Allan Leighton is a British businessman, chairman of The Co-operative Group since February 2015, former CEO of Asda, former chief executive of Pandora, and former non-executive chairman of the Royal Mail. He is also the co-owner of Brackley Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orgreave, South Yorkshire</span> Village and civil parish in South Yorkshire, England

For the village in Staffordshire, see Orgreave, Staffordshire

Countryside Partnerships plc, formerly Countryside Properties plc, is a UK housebuilding and urban regeneration company, operating mainly in London and the South East of England, but with a presence in the North West of England. Until 2022, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jes Staley</span> American banker

James Edward "Jes" Staley is an American banker, and the former group chief executive of Barclays. He stepped down as CEO on November 1, 2021, and was succeeded by C. S. Venkatakrishnan. Staley has nearly four decades of experience in banking and financial services. He spent 34 years at J.P. Morgan's investment bank, ultimately becoming CEO. In 2013, he moved to BlueMountain Capital, and in December 2015, became CEO of Barclays. In November 2021, Staley resigned amid a regulatory probe into whether he mischaracterized his relationship with the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pret a Manger</span> Chain of sandwich shops

Pret A Manger is a British sandwich shop franchise chain headquartered in London, United Kingdom, popularly referred to as Pret, founded in 1983. As of December 2022, Pret had 434 shops in the UK, including 273 in London, plus three "Veggie Prets", which focus exclusively on vegetarian and vegan options. It also has shops in France, the US, Hong Kong and several other countries. Around 90% of all Pret shops worldwide donate their unsold fresh food to local charities, giving more than 16,000 sandwiches, wraps, salads and baguettes every day to homeless shelters and charities.

Denise Coates is a British billionaire businesswoman, the founder, majority shareholder and joint chief executive of online gambling company Bet365.

Jeffrey Swartz is an American businessman, and was formerly CEO of Timberland, founded by his grandfather, Nathan Swartz. He sold Timberland to VF Corporation in 2011.

Nicholas Hugh Tremayne Wrigley is a British merchant banker and businessman, and the former chairman of Persimmon plc.

Polly Neate CBE is chief executive of Shelter, a British homelessness and housing charity that campaigns for tenant rights. She was recognised for her work in the 2020 New Year Honours list.

In the UK, CEOs of charities are compensated for their time, and the data of which is available in the public domain. In comparison to the private sector, the compensation of charity CEOs is generally substantially lower. For example Steve Robertson of the privatised Thames Water, which serves water to 10,000,000 people, received a fixed salary of £745,000 in 2018, with potential bonus of £3,750,000 in 2020. For a public-sector comparison, Former UK prime minister David Cameron received a salary of £142,500 in 2015.

Sir Joseph Anthony Dwyer was a British civil engineer and businessman. He joined Wimpey in 1955 and spent 44 years with the firm, becoming chief executive officer and chairman.

References

  1. 1 2 "Jeffrey FAIRBURN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Profile: Jeff Fairburn". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Executive Profile: Jeffrey Fairburn". Bloomberg LP. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  4. ↑ Now, Scottish Construction. "Former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn leads acquisition of Avant Homes". Scottish Construction Now. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  5. 1 2 Neate, Rupert (15 December 2017). "Persimmon chair resigns over chief executive's 'obscene' £128m bonus". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. ↑ Curry, Rhiannon (27 February 2018). "Persimmon boss denies bumper shareholder returns are to appease investors". The Daily Telegraph . ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Monaghan, Angela (23 February 2018). "Persimmon slashes boss's bonus … to just £75m". The Guardian . Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Neate, Rupert; Monaghan, Angela (7 November 2018). "Persimmon boss asked to leave amid outrage over bonus". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  9. ↑ Millard, Rachel (26 November 2019). "Persimmon's £75m boss Jeff Fairburn urged to reveal charitable giving". The Telegraph– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  10. 1 2 Neate, Robert (14 February 2021). "Ex-Persimmon chief fails to set up charity three years on from bonus row". Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Charity purposes and rules". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  12. ↑ Clark, Jessica (14 January 2020). "Ex-Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn appointed CEO of Yorkshire housebuilder". City AM. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Jefferson-Brown, Nadia (20 April 2021). "Ex Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn seals Avant Homes takeover". The Press. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Gardiner, Joey (15 December 2021). "Jeff Fairburn 'not in running' for Taylor Wimpey top job". Building. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Lawson, Alex (22 March 2023). "Ousted Persimmon boss sets up new venture with his wife". Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.