More unrelated acquisitions followed in the form of Lamson Engineering (1975), the spectacle makers Crofton (1979) and Greenwood Electronics (1983). Crest also bought the west-country construction firm of CH Pearce in 1985. Bryan Skinner retired through ill health in 1983 and, gradually, much of the earlier strategy was reversed. Non-housing businesses were sold in the late 1980s and in the housing division Crest began to follow a policy of acquiring a long land bank. In 2007 the company was taken private after it accepted a £715m offer from a consortium led by HBOS and Sir Tom Hunter, the Scottish entrepreneur. The company was re-listed on the London Stock Exchange in February 2013. In 2018 it was reported that the chief executive of Crest Nicholson had stepped down as the company reported growing profits. Stephen Stone who had been the boss of the housebuilder for 12 years became executive chairman and Patrick Bergin took his place. In June 2018 it was reported that the company would be pulling back from London as a cost-cutting measure. It will close its central London office and will be less likely to buy land in London. As a result of the company's lower profits, in January 2019, Crest Nicholson put a £400 million housing development in Hove on hold. The company's chief executive, Patrick Bergin, told "The Times" that "It would be imprudent of us to make a commitment on a scheme of that type when we’ve got limited visibility on future pricing." In September 2019, the company appointed Peter Truscott as their new chief executive, adopting a new strategy to reduce overhead costs and reposition its margins. In January 2020, Crest Nicholson reported lower profits for the second year running. Profit for the year to 31 October 2019 was £121m, down from £168.7m in 2019. Sales dipped to £1,095m from £1,122m. Truscott said the company had over-concentrated on building off-site manufacturing capabilities, and would now focus on improving on-site operational efficiency and on introducing group-wide construction specifications to cut material buying costs. Political uncertainty and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were blamed for a £51m half-year loss reported in June 2020, with the company consulting on 130 redundancies from its 966-strong workforce. In the year to 31 October 2019, Crest Nicholson completed 2,912 homes a year. It set a target of 3,500 completions for 2020, but the COVID-19 lockdown meant the number of completed homes fell 35% during the first half-year.