Vistry Group
Trading in the company's shares under the new name, Vistry Group plc, commenced on 6 January 2020.[27] Vistry Partnerships' first project wins included a £66m project on the Aylesbury Estate redevelopment at Elephant & Castle in south London,[28] and the first phase of Enfield Council's Meridian Water development.[29] Post-merger streamlining led to around 100 jobs being lost as Vistry reorganised 17 regional business units to 13.[30]
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Vistry initially furloughed the majority of its employees and suspended construction activities, before recommencing work on most of its sites in late April and early May.[31] On 20 May, Vistry said it was operating on 119 out of its 172 house-building developments, and on all 73 sites where it was building for other developers, including housing associations. Integration of the Linden and Bovis businesses continued and further headcount reduction was expected.[32] The company was criticised for exploiting the COVID-19 downturn by seeking discounts from subcontractors.[33][34]
In February 2022, Vistry was reported to be among the slowest payers of its subcontractors in a Build UK report based on government data, taking an average of 44 days to settle invoices, with 15% of its invoices still not settled after 60 days.[35]
In September 2022, Vistry was reported to be offering a £1.24 billion cash and shares deal to acquire competitor Countryside Partnerships.[36] The deal, backed by both boards and by five major shareholders at Countryside holding 39% of the company, would create one of the UK's biggest home builders with revenue of over £3bn. Countryside shareholders would receive 0.255 of a Vistry share for each of their shares plus 60p.[37] Vistry CEO Greg Fitzgerald said the Countryside brand would be retained if the takeover was approved by shareholders.[38] The takeover was completed on 11 November 2022.[39]
In August 2023, shareholders were asked to approve a £2.2m pay rise for CEO Greg Fitzgerald,[40] and his remuneration package was only narrowly approved, with just 54.8% in favour.[41] In January 2024, it was announced that Fitzgerald would, in addition to being CEO, become executive chair of the company when Ralph Findlay steps down on 16 May 2024.[42] Some shareholders expressed unrest about Fitzgerald's combined role, a departure from the UK Corporate Governance Code, with one-in-five voting against his re-election in May 2024; Vistry also commissioned an evaluation to assess the combined role of CEO and chair, to be reported in March 2025.[43] Fitzgerald subsequently abolished the role of chief operating officer; Earl Sibley left the business in November 2024.[44]
In February 2024, Vistry was among eight UK house-builders targeted by the Competition and Markets Authority in an investigation into suspected breaches of competition law. The CMA said it had evidence that firms shared commercially sensitive information with competitors, influencing the build-out of sites and the prices of new homes.[45] In January 2025, the CMA said it was conducting further investigations into suspected anti-competitive conduct by seven house-builders (Barratt's acquisition of Redrow had reduced the number from eight to seven).[46] In June 2025, the CMA investigation was extended to August 2025.[47] In July 2025, the housebuilders offered to pay £100 million towards affordable housing programme as part of an agreement to reform practices on information sharing and to end the investigation without admitting any liability or wrongdoing.[48] The CMA subsequently initiated a consultation on whether to accept the offer.[49] On 30 October 2025, the CMA confirmed its investigation had been dropped in return for a £100m payment towards affordable homes and other measures including the development of industry-wide guidance on information sharing and agreements not to share certain types of information with other housebuilders.[50]
In September 2024, Vistry forecast it would deliver more than 18,000 homes (later revised downwards to 17,500),[51] surpassing Barratt (14,000) to become Britain's biggest house-builder (this was before finalisation of Barratt's merger with Redrow). It expected to complete one-in-six of the UK's affordable homes in 2024.[52]
On 8 October 2024, Vistry issued a £115m profit warning after under-estimating build costs on nine out of 46 schemes in its southern division by around 10%. The announcement caused Vistry shares to drop in value in early stock market trading,[53] eventually closing at 963.5 pence - a 25% fall, knocking about £1bn off the company's value.[54] An additional £50m profit warning was issued on 8 November 2024 after further under-estimated build costs were identified in the same division, taking the total of affected sites to 18.[51][55] Vistry issued a third profit warning on 24 December 2024, when its shares dropped 16.2% in value, closing at a two-year low of 547.5p.[56] The third profit warning was described by investment broker Investec as "an unexpected nasty surprise" capping "a very poor end to 2024 for the Group".[57] In March 2026, the Financial Reporting Council launched an investigation into two former Vistry accountants at its South Division relating to financial reporting in the 2023 and 2024 financial years.
In January 2025, following the problems in its southern division, Vistry announced it was revising its operational structure from six to three divisions to reduce reporting lines and allow Fitzgerald to get closer to the business. The firm had also tightened up commercial assurance procedures for monthly site cost reviews.[59]
In March 2025, Vistry reported pre-tax profit had slumped to £105m from £293m previously on revenue down 6% to £3.8bn. Profitability had been impaired by the cost forecasting issues in its southern division, impacting profit by £92m. Total completions were up 7% to 17,225 units.[60]
In December 2025, it was announced that Vistry had exchanged contracts to acquire a 33.75-acre site at Yarnton, near Oxford, with outline planning permission for a mixed-tenure development of up to 540 homes. The site, allocated in the Cherwell Local Plan, includes provision for affordable housing, community and elderly care facilities, and supporting infrastructure, with further planning approvals expected from 2026.[61]
In March 2026, Vistry announced Fitzgerald would step down as chair in May 2026 (to be replaced by Rob Woodward)[62] but would continue as CEO for up to 12 months, or until a successor was appointed (in April 2026, Adam Daniels was announced as Vistry's new CEO).[63] In the year to 31 December 2025, Vistry's pre-tax profits increased to £196.2m from £104.9m on a turnover of £3.6bn.[64] Also in March 2026, Fitzgerald bought 219,377 Vistry shares after they slumped more than 20% to a near-decade low following a warning about 2026 profit margins.[65]
