Barratt's founder dies
The chief executive of house building giant Barratt has paid tribute to the founder Lawrie Barratt who has died at the age of 85.
Current CEO Mark Clare said thousands of people in the UK had bought or lived in homes inspired by Sir Lawrie.
‘He had the vision to understand how deeply rooted the desire for homeownership is within this country and he then set out to meet that aspiration by designing and building high quality affordable homes,’ he said.
‘Under his leadership the company brought homeownership within reach of many people through innovative support for home buyers and the high profile way it was promoted.’
Sir Lawrie started Barratt Developments in 1958 and, as chairman and chief executive, he expanded the business into a company with a £2 billion turnover.
He was knighted in 1982 but retired as CEO and chair in 1988 only to be called out of retirement in 1991 to be chair again. He finally retired in 1997.
Sir Lawrie was brought up in the north east of England, left school at 14 and initially trained as an accountant.
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