Galliford Try reorganises housing arm after Linden buy

Galliford Try has revealed plans for a restructuring of its housebuilding division after its acquisitions of Linden Homes and Chartdale.

Greg Fitzgerald, Galliford Try’s chief executive, revealed a six-month timetable for the reorganisation this week. He said that from May the company would restructure its operations around three brands: Linden Homes, Midas Homes and Stamford Homes. The Try Homes brand will be discontinued.

The housebuilding business will be split into two regional divisions, containing Galliford Try’s existing operations along with those from Linden, the acquisition of which was completed three weeks ago. The £244.5m deal included taking on Linden’s £136m debt.

Ian Baker, the former managing director of Stamford Homes, will become managing director for the South-west, Bristol, Southampton and the eastern counties. Chris Coates, a former Linden director, will be responsible for the South-east. Both directors have been appointed to the executive board.

Fitzgerald said he expected the integration of the businesses to take until October to complete, with back office integration to be completed within 12 months. He said the company was not looking to acquire any more housebuilders during this time, but would consider acquisitions after the integration. He said: “In six months’ time we may stick our heads above the parapet again, but for now we are focusing on the integration.”

Galliford Try’s acquisition of Linden continued a strategy of expanding its housebuilding business. It bought Chartdale for £67m in January 2006. The combined company is a 3,000-unit a year business.