York-based house building giant Persimmon plc said that Shirine Khoury-Haq will step down as an independent non-executive director on September 30, 2024, to focus on her role as group CEO at The Co-operative Group.

“The board has initiated a process to appoint a new independent non-executive director and chair of the Audit & Risk Committee,” said Persimmon.

Khoury-Haq, who joined the Co-operative board in July 2021, said: “I have greatly enjoyed my time on the Board of Persimmon.

“Since I joined the Persimmon board I have been appointed chief executive of The Co-operative Group.

“The time commitments in this role have led me to make the decision to step down from Persimmon’s board.

“I am confident in the future success of the business and wish the company well.”

Persimmon chairman Roger Devlin said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Shirine for her valuable contribution.

“While we are disappointed that Shirine is stepping down from the board, we fully understand her decision and wish her every success for the future.

“We have initiated a search for a new non-executive director and chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and will provide an update on this process in due course.”