Persimmon appoints former Landsec COO to its board

Persimmon has appointed the chief operating officer (COO) of property investment firm Land Securities to its board.

Colette O’Shea, who has particular expertise in planning, has been COO of Land Securities since 2020 and will remain in that post until 31 March this year when she will be made redundant.

At Land Securities, O’Shea has been a member of the group executive committee and investment committee, and was also a director of the group board until 30 September 2022. She joined Landsec in 2003 and held a number of senior executive positions including managing director, London and retail, and head of development. 

The £3.6bn-turnover firm Persimmon also announced the appointment of Alex Depledge to its board. Depledge founded home renovation service Resi and before that domestic cleaning service website Hassle.

She also sat on the board of the London Economic Action Partnership, the local enterprise partnership chaired by the Mayor of London, which is responsible for over £100m of investment into London culture and communities, from 2017 to 2021. 

Both Depledge and O’Shea will join Persimmon’s board on 1 May and sit on the nomination committee. From the same date, O’Shea will also be on the audit and risk committee, and Depledge will sit on the remuneration committee.    

The appointments come as non-executive directors Simon Litherland and Joanna Place have both decided not to seek re-election for a further term at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on 26 April.  

Litherland steps down after six years and Place after three years..

Persimmon is one of the housebuilders that have confirmed they will sign the government’s building safety contract ahead of the deadline at the end of today.