Gleeson appoints former management consultant to its board

Housebuilder Gleeson has appointed a strategy and business development specialist to its board.

The £370m-turnover urban regeneration developer has appointed Nicola Bruce to its board as chair of the remuneration committee.

Bruce also sits on the board of later living specialist housing association giant Anchor Hanover and on the board of water sector regulator Ofwat. She has recently been appointed to the board of brick manufacturer Ibstock.

Bruce previously worked as a senior associate at Coopers and Lybrand and as a partner at management consultancy Monitor Group, the firms which were latear bought out by global consultancy giants PWC and Deloitte respectively. She also worked for the world’s largest commercial printer and producer of bank notes, De La Rue as group strategy director between 2006 and 2008.

Bruce will replace former Hyde Group chief executive Elaine Bailey, who had been serving as interim chair of the remuneration committee. Bruce will also become a member of the audit and nomination committees.

Gleeson in February said it will cut 15% of its roles under a restructure in a bid to make £4m of savings a year. Graham Prothero, chief executive at Gleeson said in February two-thirds of the roles were already vacant.

This followed half-year results showing a 34% fall in pre-tax profit. This followed rapid growth in which Gleeson doubled its completions to 2,000 over five years to 2022 and more than doubled its turnover from £147.2m to £334.6m between 2020 and 2022.

The firm said it expects to build between 1,650 and 1,850 homes in the full year, down on the 2,000 delivered last year.