John White will step down as Persimmon chief executive on April 20, following 13 years in the role. Mike Farley will take over as White takes up his new position as executive chairman following the retirement of long-time chairman Duncan Davidson. \"I will be keeping active as an executive chairman to the end of next year to ensure that between myself and Mike [Farley] the business transition and integration of Westbury is dealt with appropriately,\"White told Housebuilder. \"I will be spending more time on City matters while Mike continues to get round the business.\" Persimmon built more than 12,000 homes in 2005, and increased profits by 5% to £495.4million on a £2.29 billion turnover. \"The results tend to hide how challenging it was,\"said White. \"It was the most difficult market for a number of years and it’s rewarding to have achieved such results in this context. It shows the resilience and flexibility of our business.\" White has overseen a string of record results at the group and its entry into the FTSE100 and rise to become the UK’s largest housebuilder following its £643 million acquisition of Westbury last November.