<p><span><br/></span></p><p><span>McCarthy &amp; Stone has today (September 25) announced its business transformation strategy in response to the challenging environment it is facing, and the appointment of John Tonkiss as the company's new chief executive. </span><br/></p><p><span>As part of the new strategy, the retirement housebuilder has also announced a new long-term vision for the business.</span></p> <p><span>Following the announcement earlier this year that it would undertake a strategic review, the company has revealed the steps it will take “which will position the business to succeed in this more challenging market environment”. Highlights of the transformation strategy include:</span></p> <p><span> - </span><span>A shift in business mindset from growth to increasing ROCE (return on capital employed) and margins</span></p><p><span>- Realigning the workflow and “rightsizing” the operational cost base to deliver steady state volumes of around 2,100</span></p><p><span>- Changing McStone’s year end to October 31 2019 to “decouple from peak holiday season”</span></p><p><span>- Focusing on two core products - Retirement Living and Retirement Living Plus (formerly Assisted Living)</span></p> <p><span>McStone said it would optimise its operations to achieve a “strong financial performance” across four pillars - workflow realignment: generating a stable monthly flow of land exchanges, build starts, sales releases and first occupations; “rightsizing” the business; an efficient sales and marketing model …