Westbury's one-stop shop aim

Housebuilder Westbury wants to become a "one-stop shop" for housebuyers by offering a full range of the services and products needed when moving home.

The UK's sixth-largest housebuilder, Westbury wants to expand its sales of fittings such as carpets, dishwashers and bathroom equipment. "We need to be more than just a housebuilder to increase our total return to shareholders," said chief executive Martin Donohue as he unveiled Westbury's latest annual results last week.

Pre-tax profit (12 months to 29 February 2000) rose to £54m (£43m) as turnover moved up to £480m (£420m). Operating margin showed a slight improvement, inching ahead from 12.6% to 12.8%.

Donohue announced organisation changes. Nigel Fee has been appointed MD of the Homes Division. Group marketing director Robin Davies has been given the task of growing new business opportunities, with David Simpson appointed MD of Westbury Direct to spearhead this expansion.

Westbury is also pursuing Space4, a panel-based construction system, which will enable it to produce major elements of a house in a factory environment. Donohue said this offers higher levels of quality, reduced waste, greater precision and the complete construction of a house in just 6-8 weeks rather than the usual 16-20 weeks.