<p><span>Jeff Fairburn, group chief executive at Persimmon, is to step down, the firm announced this morning. </span></p><p><span>The decision has been made “by mutual agreement and at the request of the company” according to the statement. “The board believes that the distraction around (Jeff Fairburn’s) remuneration from the 2012 LTIP (long term incentive plan) scheme continues to have a negative impact on the reputation of the business and consequently on Jeff's ability to continue in his role."</span><span><br/></span></p><p><span>David Jenkinson, currently group managing director, will be appointed as interim group chief executive and will assume his new role on December 31 2018 and Fairburn will leave the company on that date. Persimmon has started the process to select a permanent successor. </span><span><br/></span></p><p><span>Jenkinson joined Persimmon in 1997 and was appointed to the board in December 2013. He was appointed group managing director in January 2016. </span><span><br/></span></p><p><span>Roger Devlin, Persimmon's chairman, said: "Under Jeff's leadership Persimmon has sold more than 74,000 homes across the UK while more than doubling in size, increasing its market capitalisation from £3.4 billion to £7.5 billion, returning over £2.2 billion to shareholders and producing industry leading margins and returns on capital. However, given the continuing distraction around the scale of his …