Barratt Developments exec suspended after arrest

Housebuilder Barratt Developments has suspended its regional managing director for London, Alastair Baird, after he was arrested over possible misconduct in awarding certain contracts.

Baird and a former Barratt London employee were arrested by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday morning.

The arrests followed a referral to the Met by the company back in April of initial findings of an internal investigation that began in August 2015 after an internal audit.

Barratt said it related to “the possible misconduct in the process for awarding and managing certain material and sub-contract supply contracts in the London region”.

The investigation also led to civil legal action which commenced in October 2015 against an employee who was dismissed in February 2016.

Following the initial findings, Barratt appointed an accounting firm to conduct an external review of the controls relating to the tendering and procurement processes in the London business. After the review – the results of which were reported to the Audit Committee – Barratt said it has adopted additional controls.

Chief executive officer David Thomas said: “We are committed to meeting the highest ethical standards in all aspects of our business. We have acted decisively, launching our own thorough and comprehensive investigation and referring the matter to the Metropolitan Police.

“We will continue to cooperate fully with the Metropolitan Police and to conduct our own investigation into these matters. We will take whatever action is required to ensure our values and standards are upheld."

Gary Ennis, regional managing director for the Southern Region, will take on interim responsibility for the London and Southern Regions.

Barratt does not expect to see any material adverse financial impact from the investigation.

At 1247 BST, the shares were up 1.1% to 489.10p.