Taylor Wimpey recruits former Marshalls boss to its board

The former boss of landscape products manufacturer Marshalls is set to join the board of Taylor Wimpey next month.

Martyn Coffey, who was the chief executive of Marshalls from September 2013 until March this year, will join the board as an independent non-executive director with effect from 1 December 2024 and will become a member of the audit and nomination and governance committees on appointment.

Coffey has also spent eight years as a non-executive director of Eurocell between February 2015 and May 2023.

Robert Noel, chair of the board, said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Martyn to the board as an independent non-executive director. His deep knowledge of the building industry and particularly of manufacturing and supply chains, will add to, and deepen the board’s skill sets in these important areas.”

Taylor Wimpey has also confirmed that Humphrey Singer will stand down from the board with effect from 31 December 2024 after a nine-year term as a non-executive director.

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Lord Jitesh Gadhia, independent non-executive director, will succeed Humphrey as the senior independent director.

Following his appointment to the board in March 2021, Lord Gadhia has chaired the board’s remuneration committee since 26 April 2022 and also led the company’s search process for a new chair in 2022.

In a trading date earlier this month, Taylor Wimpey said it expected to meet its operating profit and completions expectations for 2024.

The housebuilder said it was “on track” to achieve operating profit of £416m in the year to 31 December as it projected in the summer. It also said it expects to deliver between 9,500 and 10,000 homes as previously forecast.

Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, said: “Underpinned by a strong balance sheet, well-located landbank and highly experienced teams, we are well positioned for growth from 2025, assuming supportive market conditions.”

The housebuilder’s net private sales per outlet per week in the second half of 2024 to date has increased from 0.51 to 0.70.

In the summer Taylor Wimpey announced that ts pre-tax profit in the first six months of the year fell from £237.7m to £99.7m, largely due to an £88m provision for cladding fire safety provisions.