Executive

• The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) Read more

  

  Cath Purdy

  Chief Executive

  Leads the Executive Leadership Team.

  Responsible for People and Culture & Development.

  Cath Purdy joined South Lakes Housing in July 2015, having previously been Chief Executive of Housing Hartlepool and Group Chief Executive of Vela Housing Group, before briefly becoming Deputy Group Chief Executive of Thirteen Group in the Tees Valley.

  Having spent over 30 years as a housing professional, 18 of which have been at executive level, Cath is passionate about social housing and how the sector contributes to economic and social wellbeing. She has been very active in the sector, currently serving as Board Director of HouseMark and Placeshapers. She has previously served as Board director of the National Housing Federation, the CiH Council and Northern Housing Consortium Boards.

  She has a BA (Hons) degree in Social Policy, a diploma in Housing Policy and a Masters in Business Administration. She is a fellow of the CiH and in 2011 was awarded an OBE, for her work in Housing in the Queens Birthday honours.

  Cath has previously acted as a Trustee of a Primary Care Trust and a subsidiary of the National Museum for the Royal Navy. She is currently a Leader in residence at the Lancaster University Management School.

  Having previously delivered two successful transfers and two mergers, Cath is committed to build on the strong foundation of the early post transfer years and with an excellent staff team improve core services, value for money and grow the business through the development of much needed new homes. By working in partnership with the Local Authorities and others she intends for South Lakes to be at the forefront of delivering the economic, social and health benefits of good quality affordable housing in the area.

  Declarations of Interest: Board member of Housing Plus Group, PlaceShapers and Housemark

  

  Richard Morris

  Director of Finance

  Responsible for Finance.

  Richard joined the Executive Team from within the organisation, where he has been the Head of Finance for the last 3 years providing key financial support to teams and senior leaders across the organisation.

  Richard, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has extensive experience in high-level finance roles in the housing, construction and education sectors. Having previously held senior finance roles for Your Housing Group, Trafford Housing Trust, One Manchester and before joining SLH a Deputy Principal role in Further Education.

  In his role as Finance Director, Richard is responsible for elevating the finance function at SLH through the effective use of technology, communication, processes and systems.

  Richard Hayes

  Director of Homes

  Responsible for Repairs, Building Safety, Stock Condition, Planned Maintenance and Sustainability. Richard is the health and safety lead for tenant services.

  Richard graduated in 1995 as a Quantity Surveyor and initially worked for Knowsley Design Consultancy in Liverpool. He was a member of the design team to deliver the Liverpool Football Club Academy in Kirby and new leisure centres in Halewood and Huyton, Liverpool. Through the consultancy he worked with Knowsley Housing Services during their stock transfer to Knowsley Housing Trust in 2002.

  Richard moved to Sefton MBC and then latterly to One Vision Housing in Bootle where, as Head of Investment, he managed a multi disciplinary team of Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors and Building Surveyors to successfully deliver a £200M property improvement programme within four years. Richard was a member of the management team when One Vision Housing won the 2012 Sunday Times Best 100 Companies Award.

  In 2012 Richard moved to South Lakes Housing to take up the post of Assistant Director of Assets and Investment and was subsequently appointed Director of Assets & Investment in 2015. In his current post Richard is responsible for the successful delivery of SLHs Improvement Programme, construction related compliance and the Cumbria Housing and Property Services company (CH&PS).

  John Mansergh

  Director of Business Improvement

  Responsible for performance & risk management, health & safety, internal audit, communications and marketing snd co-regulation. He is Company Secretary for SLH.

  John has been at South Lakes Housing since 2010, initially to manage the stock transfer programme and a range of business improvement projects. He also provides executive support to the Audit & Risk Committee.

  John has over 15 years in managing performance and leading projects both within housing organisations and the adult social care sector. John has a 2:1 Honours Degree in Housing Studies and began his housing career as a Housing Officer before moving into corporate services roles.  

  Declarations of Interest: Governor and member of the Audit and Risk Committee at Kendal College

  

  Niki Stockton

  Director of Customer Experience

  Responsible for housing and customer services, customer engagement, feedback and insight, neighbourhoods, allocations and income management. Niki is the consumer standards lead for tenant services.

  Niki joined SLH in 2022 from a north west housing provider where she was the Executive Director of Operations. She is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has 30 years’ experience in social housing, the last 15 years in senior Executive roles and Non-Executive Board Member roles. Niki is passionate about social justice and providing safe, affordable, quality homes and excellent customer services and recognises the positive role that social landlords can play in place making.

  Niki is an experienced leader and has significant skills, knowledge and experience across the breadth of housing services, including homelessness, improving homes and services, neighbourhood management, development and regeneration, asset management, mergers and stock transfers and has previous lived experience of social housing. She has worked for a local authority and small, regional and large national social landlords. She also brings a wealth of experience in terms of strategic planning, governance and risk management and change management. She is currently Chair of the Board of another housing provider and has been on the Boards and Committees of a number of housing providers across Greater Manchester.

  Niki is part of the Executive Leadership Team and oversees the development and delivery of an excellent customer experience at SLH and is leading our culture change programme, embedding our Customer First approach across the business and recalibrating our relationships, working with customers and communities to ensure that our customers’ experience and outcomes across the business are exceptional. She is also the executive lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. At SLH 

  Declarations of Interest: Chair of Irwell Valley Homes