Persimmon committed to Westbury's timber frame business

Persimmon has completed the £643m takeover of Westbury plc to become Britain's biggest housebuilder by market value.

Persimmon, whose annual housing output will now be close to 17,000 units, has promised to safeguard Westbury's Castle Bromwich Space4 timber frame business.

The Westbury brand has been replaced with Persimmon's and consultation with staff is under way regarding redundancies. Some 81 of 88 positions at Westbury's former head office at Cheltenham are being made redundant.

One employee told TTJ that morale was low among former Westbury staff.

The source said: "A lot of people have been here for many years. It's sad to look out the window and see the Westbury signage going into a skip."

The merger will provide Persimmon with a greater regional spread of business, a bigger land bank and "significant synergy benefits" for the enlarged group.