Vistry makes two senior appointments

Vistry Partnerships has appointed Verity MacMahon and Phil Farminer as managing directors of its newly created East Anglia arm and its central and southern business respectively.

MacMahon has most recently been the Kent-based regen specialist’s divisional land director for the housebuilding teams in the East Midlands and Yorkshire. She left school at 16 to pursue her passion for horse racing but then started a housebuilding career as a land secretary at the then named firm Taylor Woodrow. She has worked across East Anglia for a number of national and regional housebuilders. She joined Vistry predecessor organisation Galliford Try’s housebuidling arm Linden Homes in 2019 as land director.

As land director she led on the acquisition of an urban extension of Peterborough, Great Haddon, which delivered 1,500 homes. 

Farminer has been appointed managing director of Drew Smith, Vistry Partnerships’ central and southern business, where he joined as a management trainee in 1996. 

Through the years he has risen to senior positions in the company, including technical director and planning director, and most recently leading on land and planning functions. 

Farminer will focus on securing more land opportunities in the region and delivering larger strategic sites, including North Whiteley in Hampshire and Netherhampton Road in Wiltshire.

See also>> Housing Today’s Top 35 Housebuilders: exclusive data and analysis

See also>> Top 35 housebuilders: full tables

Vistry in May  announced it had commenced a share buyback programme to repurchase up to £35m of shares in May this year following better-than-expected financial performance. 

The £1.8bn-turnover firm,  formed at the start of 2020 from the merger of Bovis with the housebuilding operations of Galliford Try, is now forecasting pre-tax profit of around £415m in 2022, at the top of its previously forecast range of £396.3m to £415m.

Stephen Teagle, chief executive of Vistry Partnerships, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Verity and Phil into their respective posts.  Verity’s skills and experience working across East Anglia make her the ideal candidate to head up our new business here and her understanding of the group’s One Vistry approach will be of great value.

“Phil has had an outstanding 25-year career at Drew Smith. Using his deep knowledge of the region and strong relationships with key partners, he’ll continue to develop the Drew Smith brand whilst working closely with our housebuilding businesses within Vistry Group.”