Appointments round-up: May 2024

Great Places Housing Group

 

Great Places Housing Group has promoted Alison Dean to chief executive as a replacement for Matt Harrison, who is stepping down after just over 10 years in the role.

 

Ms Dean, who is currently deputy chief executive at the Manchester-based landlord, will take over from Mr Harrison at the start of July. He will step down and retire after around 30 years at the 25,000-home group, including serving as chief executive since 2013.   

 

Barclays

 

Barclays has appointed Mike Figg as its new head of social housing to replace Dave Cassidy, who has served in the role since May 2015.

 

Mr Figg has spent the past 18-and-a-half years at HSBC and is currently deputy head of housing at the bank. 

 

He will join Barclays at the start of July and lead its social housing team, which includes working with around 160 housing associations. Mr Cassidy will move into the role of head of public sector at Barclays.

 

St Arthur Homes

 

Richard Cohen has stepped down as chief executive and co-owner of for-profit provider St Arthur Homes.

 

He had led the group, which specialises in shared ownership, since September 2016. In a LinkedIn post, Mr Cohen indicated that he would be starting a new project in the housing sector.

 

Southway Housing Trust

 

South Manchester-based landlord Southway Housing Trust has appointed John Bowker as chief executive to replace Karen Mitchell, who is retiring after 17 years at the group.

 

Mr Bowker will join Southway in July, leaving his current role as executive director of operations at Stockport Homes.

 

He brings 25 years’ experience of working in a variety of roles for several housing associations across the North West, including Liverpool Mutual Homes (now under Torus) and Home Group. 

 

Grŵp Cynefin

 

Welsh landlord Grŵp Cynefin has given interim boss Mel Evans the job on a permanent basis.

 

Mr Evans has been interim chief executive at the 4,800-home provider, which operates across North Wales and Powys, for the past year. He replaced Shan Lloyd Williams in the role last year after she stepped down, following five years in charge.

 

Prior to becoming interim chief executive, Mr Evans was director of innovation and growth at Grŵp Cynefin.

 

In May, the Welsh government’s housing regulator returned Grŵp Cynefin to a compliant yellow grade.

A2Dominion

 

G15 landlord A2Dominion has made two appointments to its board: Paul Fiddaman, group chief executive of Karbon Homes, and Emma Palmer, the boss of Eastlight Community Homes.

Mr Fiddaman, who is also the current chair of the Northern Housing Consortium, joins A2Dominion’s group board and finance committee.  

Ms Palmer, who was chief executive of Greenfields Community Housing before its merger with Colne Housing to become Eastlight in July 2020, becomes the chair of the customer service committee at A2Dominion.

The appointments come four months after the English regulator gave A2Dominion a non-compliant G3 grade for governance.

 

L&Q

 

L&Q has appointed former Co-operative Bank chief executive Liam Coleman as its group chair.

 

Mr Coleman, who has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry, will take over from current chair Aubrey Adams, who retires in the autumn after nine years in the role.

 

Mr Coleman is currently a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee at the Financial Conduct Authority and a non-executive director and chair of the customer services committee at Vivid Housing.

 

L&Q has also hired Anne Turner as an independent member of its audit and risk committee. She is a qualified accountant and the former chief operating officer of Orbit Group.

 

Housing 21

 

Housing 21 has appointed Elaine Elkington as interim chair after Gurpreet Dehal, a former investment banker, resigned following three months in the role.

 

Mr Dehal, who was appointed by the 23,300-home extra-care and retirement living landlord in February, said he wanted time to focus on his other professional commitments.  

 

Ms Elkington is an existing member of the board at Housing 21 and has previously been chair of its extra-care committee. She will serve as chair for an “indefinite interim period” until the hunt for a new chair begins, the landlord said.

 

Eastlight Community Homes

 

Essex-based Eastlight Community Homes has hired James Lomas to the newly created role of head of finance. 

 

He joins the 12,500-home landlord from law firm Birkett Long, where he was a financial controller. Prior to this, Mr Lomas held senior finance roles at 11,500-home housing association CHP.

 

Eastlight was formed in 2020 through the merger of Colne Housing and Greenfields Community Housing.