Irene Dorner to succeed Kevin Beeston as Taylor Wimpey chair

Taylor Wimpey said on Wednesday that Irene Dorner will succeed Kevin Beeston as chair of the company when he steps down in February next year.

The housebuilder announced back in March that Beeston would be stepping down as changes to the corporate governance code that kicked in earlier this year mean that company chairs are now required to step down after nine years.

Dorner will join the board as chair designate and as an independent non-executive director on 1 December, and will work closely with Beeston during a handover period ahead of his departure, which is expected to take place after the 2019 results on 26 February 2020.

Taylor Wimpey said Dorner has - a qualified barrister - had a "long and distinguished career", largely at HSBC, where she held a number of senior positions until the end of 2014. She ran HSBC's Malaysian operations, was CEO and president of HSBC in the US and was also appointed as group managing director of HSBC Holdings.

Senior independent director Kate Barker said: "On behalf of the board, I would like firstly to thank Kevin for his outstanding commitment and dedication to Taylor Wimpey over the last nine years as chair. Under Kevin's stewardship and leadership, the company sold its North American business, returned to the FTSE 100 and also introduced its customer centric strategy - the board is extremely grateful to him for all of his invaluable strategic counsel and guidance. We wish him all the very best for the future. "

Barker said the company will benefit from Dorner's "strong leadership skills and commercial experience".