Industry veteran Steve Morgan retires from housebuilder Redrow

While much of today’s property talk has revolved around the bonus-related resignation of Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn, rival housebuilder Redrow also bid its farewell to founder and chairman Steve Morgan.

The industry veteran, who set up the FTSE 250 company in 1974, revealed he was retiring this morning a decade on from returning to the business after a nine-year break.

He is set to be replaced by chief operating officer Matthew Pratt.

Morgan’s decision comes on the same day as Redrow urged the government to lower regional price caps for Help-to-Buy.

Despite the housebuilder saying that it embraced chancellor Philip Hammond’s recent budget extension of its policy to help first-time buyers, it added that the current caps in place “markedly disadvantage the North and Midlands in favour of the South of England.”

"By the end of March 2019 it will be exactly 10 years since I returned to the group and I am proud of what has been achieved over this time. Since I founded Redrow in 1974 we have had many important milestones. Just two weeks ago we completed our 100,000th Redrow home and 2018 will see us complete 6,000 homes in a calendar year for the first time, both significant milestones for Redrow and for me on a personal level," Morgan said in a statement ahead of the company’s annual general meeting.

Morgan, who said he will remain as a major shareholder in the group, rejoined the company in 2009 during the financial crisis when a number of property groups were struggling to sell houses.