Jeff Fairburn

Jeffrey Fairburn was born on 22 May 1966.[1][2] He is the son of a motor mechanic father, grew up in York, and left Fulford Comprehensive at the age of 17.[2]

After leaving school, Fairburn joined a two-year youth training scheme in York to become a quantity surveyor, working, and training for a Higher National Certificate (HNC) qualification at York Technical College.[2]

Fairburn joined Persimmon in 1989, becoming CEO in April 2013.[3]

As of December 2017, Fairburn had been a director of 305 UK companies.[1]

In December 2017, Persimmon's chairman, Nicholas Wrigley, resigned over his role in awarding Fairburn a bonus in the region of £100 million.[4] The Persimmon bonus scheme is believed to be the UK's "most generous ever", and was scheduled to pay more than £500 million to 150 senior staff from 31 December 2016.[4]

In March 2017, Fairburn agreed to hand back £25 million of the bonus and set aside a "substantial portion" of the sum to charity, bringing the total payout to £75 million.[5][6] In October 2018, he walked off camera during a BBC Look North interview, after his press officer objected to his being asked about the bonus. His parting words to the reporter were "I think that's very unfortunate actually that you've done that." In November 2018, Persimmon asked Fairburn to leave the company.[7]

The controversy around Fairburn continued in November 2019 when Politicians and campaigners urged him to reveal whether he has donated a portion of his controversial £75m bonus as he promised, as it appears no charity has been set up in the former Persimmon boss's name. A year after he was forced to step down, the Charity Commission says it does not have any record of a trust bearing Mr Fairburn's name. Neither does it appear that the ex-housebuilding chief executive is a trustee of any charity in England or Wales.[8]

Fairburn drives a Range Rover, enjoys Formula One racing, and his holiday destination of choice is Florida.[2]