Malcolm Harris, the chief executive of Bovis Homes, is to stand down next year.

He will be replaced by David Ritchie, the managing director, as part of a wide-ranging restructuring of Bovis Homes’ management structure.

Harris, who has been at the helm of the housebuilder for 12 years, will become non-executive chairman, replacing Tim Melville-Ross, who will retire.

Ritchie’s former post of managing director will be scrapped and replaced by executives acting as regional chairmen, a change that will devolve more power to the company’s regional divisions.

Bovis Homes said the regional chairmen would report to Ritchie, and that the regional managing directors would report to them.

One analyst said Ritchie wanted the extra tier of senior management underneath him to improve the speed of decision making when it came to land purchasing decisions.

Postscript

Adam Applegarth, chief executive of the Northern Rock bank, has resigned as a non-executive on the board of Persimmon so that he can concentrate on his role at Northern Rock.