Three bid to make Fairbriar private

Housebuilder Fairbriar has announced that it has received an approach from its own chairman, Kevin McCabe, and two other shareholders.

If successful, the trio would take the company private.

Financially, Fairbriar has had a speckled history and last year’s turnover of £19m generated a pre-tax profit of just £212,000.

Eighteen months ago, it reached an arrangement with the then chief executive Philip Van Reyk. He moved out and established a management company with a contract to develop out Fairbriar’s existing housing schemes. The arrangement with Van Reyk is thought to have run out.

McCabe, 56, is a quantity surveyor who joined Bovis at the age of 16. He set up the Scarborough Property Company in 1980. His family still has ownership. It is valued at £70m and made a profit of £11m last year. In the Sunday Times Rich List, McCabe and family are ranked at 547 with assets running to £90m