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Rob Perrins, chief executive of Berkeley Group Holdings, is to become executive chair of the board in September, subject to shareholder approval.

Rob Perrins, a chartered accountant, has been with Berkeley since 1994, joining the board as finance director in 2001. As founder Tony Pidgley’s protégé, Perrins succeeded him as chief executive in 2009.

But while rival volume house-builder Vistry has opted to flout the UK Corporate Governance Code by combining the roles of chair and chief executive officer in a single individual, Greg Fitzgerald, Berkeley is keeping the roles separate. Richard Stearn, finance director since 2015, will become chief executive when Perrins moves up.

Michael Dobson, Berkeley’s current chairman, will step down from the board at the conclusion of the company’s AGM on 5^th September 2025.

The announcement of Perrins’ promotion came as the company published its accounts for the year to 30th April 2025, which showed pre-tax profits of £528.9m (2024: £557.3m).

Revenue of £2,486.5m in the year (2024: £2,464.3m) included £2,432.2m of residential revenue (2024: £2,395.7m, £14.8m of commercial revenue (2024: £47.2m) and £39.5m of land sales (2024: £21.4m).

Perrins said that the supply chain was soaking up most of the pain when it comes to rising costs. “For Berkeley, build costs have remained stable over the course of the year,” he said.  “The sluggish domestic economic backdrop, with low housebuilding and wider construction activity, is leading subcontractors to absorb underlying inflationary pressure on materials and labour within their tender pricing.  As we look forward, Berkeley expects this dynamic to continue as subcontractors place value on securing the forward orders in a weak market.”

On the past year’s trading performance, Perrins said: “Berkeley has delivered £528.9m of pre-tax profit for the year, with net cash at £337.3m, in spite of ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility.  With over 75% of sales secured for the coming year, we are well-placed to achieve our FY26 pre-tax profit guidance of £450m.

“This represents an excellent operational performance with highly disciplined execution and close control of costs. We have added long-term value to the business, both in our land holdings and through our build to rent (BTR) platform, while returning £381.5m to shareholders; a great start to the Berkeley 2035 strategy.

“There is good underlying demand for our homes, with transaction volumes gradually improving over the course of the year. However, consumer confidence remains finely balanced and a more meaningful recovery requires both improved sentiment and macroeconomic stability.”

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