Swan appoints acting boss and two new ‘heavyweight’ board members
Swan Housing Association, which is currently non-compliant with the regulator’s standards and in the middle of merger talks, has appointed an acting chief executive and installed two new board members.
Susan Hickey
Sharelines
In a market update today, the 11,600-home group said it has appointed Susan Hickey, who spent 10 years as Peabody’s chief financial officer, as its acting boss “until further notice”.
Ms Hickey is stepping in for Swan’s long-serving chief executive John Synnuck, who is “unwell and temporarily away from the office”, the group said.
Mr Synnuck, who has been the Essex-based landlord’s chief executive for around 28 years since it was formed, is due to retire next March.
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In addition, Swan has appointed Matthew Bailes, chief executive of Paradigm Housing, and Paul Phillips, the former chief financial officer of Notting Hill Genesis, to its group board as co-optees.
Pat Billingham, Swan’s chair, said the appointments would bring “heavyweight sector experience in both development and finance to the Swan board”.
She added: “The appointment of Susan Hickey, as acting chief executive officer, will ensure that the Swan team have strong leadership in place to support the continued delivery of services to Swan’s customers and stakeholders.”
It comes after Swan was downgraded to a G3/V3 non-compliant rating by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) earlier this month, partly due to a “material deterioration” in its financial position.
In the regulatory judgement, published on 10 December, the RSH said Swan was working with the regulator to address the issues and had commissioned external advisors to help.
On the same day, Swan and Orbit Group announced they were in discussions to form a “partnership” and create a 60,000-home landlord. If successful, the transaction is expected to complete in late 2022, according to the groups.
When contacted about the new appointments by Swan, a spokesperson for the RSH said: "Swan has made the decision to appoint the new board members in order to strengthen governance following the regulatory downgrade. The regulator has not so far used its powers but, in line with its normal approach, it will keep this position under review.”
Update: This story was updated at 8.15am on 22 December to include a statement from the RSH.
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