MBO of Crosby Homes a distinct possibility

Geoff Hutchinson has revealed today (Thursday) that he is leading a proposed five-man management buy-out of Crosby Homes, part of the Berkeley Group that was judged to be non-core following a recent strategic review.

Hutchinson has already resigned from his position as a main board director of Berkeley.

The other four members of the mbo team are finance director Richard Starkey, regional managing directors Andrew Brady and Andrew Jinks, together with Keith Pepperdine, a Crosby executive director.

Crosby's range of operating businesses work out of five regional offices located in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff and Leeds.

The business controls more than 5,000 plots across 80 development sites. The largest are: Redbank, Manchester (1,014 units); Clarence Dock, Leeds (605 units plus additional commercial space); and three sites in Birmingham - Southside, Navigation Street, John Bright Street.

Crosby's six joint ventures are unaffected. These include Ician Developments with Amec and Hungate (York) Regeneration with Land Securities and Evans of Leeds.

Hutchinson and his mbo team will receive £2.3m if any other buyer snaps up Crosby within 364 days.