Set to join the board on 1 May 2023, both Colette and Alex will join the housebuilder’s nomination committee. Colette will also join the audit and risk committee and Alex will also join the remuneration committee.

Colette O’Shea is chief operating officer of Landsec until 31 March 2023, a role she’s held since 2020. In this role, Colette was a member of the group executive committee and investment committee and was also a director of the group board until 30 September 2022. Originally joining Landsec in 2003, Colette had previously held a number of senior executive positions including managing director, London & eetail, and head of sevelopment. She has particular expertise in planning.

Alex Depledge is a serial British technology entrepreneur and currently CEO of Resi.co.uk. Prior to establishing Resi, Alex had co-founded Hassle.com, Europe’s largest domestic cleaning online marketplace, taking it from inception, through a period of rapid expansion across four European markets, to a successful sale. From 2017-2021 Alex sat on the board of the London Economic Action Partnership, the local enterprise partnership chaired by the Mayor of London, which is responsible for over £100m of investment into London culture and communities.

Simon Litherland and Joanna Place, non-executive directors of the group, have both decided not to seek re-election for a further term at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. Simon and Jo will therefore step down from the board after six years and three years respectively at the conclusion of the AGM on 26 April 2023.

Roger Devlin, chairman of Persimmon, said: “These two board appointments add highly relevant and complementary skills to the Persimmon board. Colette has a wealth of property market investment and development expertise gained in a twenty year career with one of the UK’s leading real estate businesses; Alex’s entrepreneurial track record of building and scaling consumer facing technology businesses will add further depth to the board’s capabilities. I am delighted to welcome Colette and Alex to Persimmon and look forward to their contribution to the board as the group continues on its journey to become Britain’s best housebuilder.

“On behalf of the board, I would also like to thank Simon and Jo for their most valuable contributions to the Persimmon board over recent years. They have provided wise counsel and support both to me personally and to the company during their time on the Board. I wish them every future success.”