The organisation is run by a Board of Management where people are recruited based upon a criteria of skills and competencies required by the Board to fulfil their business objectives. The Board makes major decisions about what the company aims to do and how it will achieve this. It steers the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) who look after the day-to-day operation of the business and the delivery of services.
SLH currently holds the gradings for Governance’ (G1) and ‘Viability (V2) from the Homes and Communities Agency (the social housing regulator).
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- Board Directors
Ian Munro (Chair)Until recently Ian had been the Chief Executive of New Charter, a highly successful and respected Housing Association in the Manchester area. Ian has served as a non-executive director on the Board of SLH since September 2017 and as well as his significant housing pedigree he has set up and chaired a multi-academy education trust and a local media company
Ian was appointed to the SLH Chair role from 1st May 2018. Ian has been a former board member of the National Housing Federation and was awarded an OBE for services to housing in the 2017 New Years Honours list
Key skills: Strategy, Governance, Housing, Property Management.
Declarations of Interest: Chair and Non Executive Director (NED) of Bolton at Home Housing Association, Trustee Bridgewater Hall Education Trust, Director IHM Services Ltd, Director at Maxmedia Communications Ltd.
Andy Oldale (Chair of Audit and Risk Committee)
Andy is currently an Executive Director of Finance and Governance at Yorkshire Housing and has a breadth of strategic finance and governance experience having held a number of other senior positions within the sector and is also an independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee at Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Before working in social housing he led finance teams in customer-focused retail businesses.
Andrew is a qualified accountant and has a sound understanding of internal control, the sector and the regulatory environment and experience in health and safety and treasury management.
Key Skills : Strategy, Risk, Finance, Governance and Regulation.
Declarations of Interest: Executive Director Yorkshire Housing, Independent Member of Joseph Rowntree Audit and Risk Committee.
Steve Bentley
Steve has over 35 years of experience in corporate banking, having qualified with the institute of bankers and was the former Relationship Director for Barclays specialised in supporting Social Housing providers in the North West before retiring in 2019. He brings considerable corporate governance, finance and treasury management experience to South Lakes Housing. Steve lives just outside of Kirkby Lonsdale and is also the senior independent director at the ForViva Group a social housing provider with wide-reaching commercial activities based in Salford.
Key Skills: Finance, strategy, performance and treasury management.
Declarations of Interest: Senior Independent Director at ForViva Group and ForHousing.
Silas HeysSilas is a qualified solicitor who specialises in property law. He moved to Kendal in 2017 after working for international law firms in Manchester and Liverpool, where he acted for pension funds, retailers and large charitable and educational institutions on their property transactions and portfolio management. Silas is currently in-house Legal Counsel at Cumberland Building Society, where he advises the Society on all aspects of property, banking and finance and commercial law, as well as on corporate governance.
A geography graduate and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Silas has a keen interest in sustainability and the environment.
Key Skills: Property law, management and development; Commercial Contracts; Risk; Governance and Regulation.
Declarations of Interest: Officer and Member of Wray Village Store Limited, Member and Employee of Cumberland Building Society.
Susanne LongSusanne has lived in Kendal since 2012, moving up from the south coast where she worked for IBM UK Ltd.
Susanne is a Councillor for both South Lakeland District Council (elected in 2019) and for Kendal Town Council (elected 2018). Susanne is especially interested in the areas of Planning and Housing and is also a Board member for Kendal Futures.
Susanne’s previous career was within the IT sector, working in various sales and sales enablement roles all of which were focused on Client Relationship Management (CRM). In her role as Business Transformation Consultant, Susanne worked with Clients to re-design & simplify processes, deliver the infrastructure to support their evolving business needs and to prepare them for the change required to ensure their successful adoption.
Key skills: Organisational Change Management (Business Transformation), Consulting: change & adoption, project & program management, Community engagement, CR.
Declarations of Interest: Member of Kendal Community Land Trust, Board Member Kendal Futures.
Nicola Haywood-CleverlyWith a background in engineering, Nicola has extensive knowledge of the technology industry and a wealth of expertise in implementing large-scale, complex change, often digitally enabled to deliver improvements and innovation across the public sector. She has been a Chief Digital and Information Officer in the NHS, integrated care and policing.
With a passion for sustainability, supporting communities and doing what’s right to care for and protect people, Nicola works as an advisor to the digital health and care sector, including the Institute of Engineering and Technology.
An experienced governor, NED and chair, her contribution to strategic development, resourcing and investment, risk and assurance, and the use of business intelligence and data is highly valued. She is a board member at OnGo Homes and a NED at University Hospitals Morecambe Bay, which complement and benefit her work at South Lakes Housing.
Nicola has a lifelong relationship with the region and welcomes this opportunity to give something back.
Key skills: Digital transformation, Data and informatics, Cyber security; UXRD; Business improvement; Change & adoption; Customer services; Partnerships.
Declarations of Interest: NED, UHMB and Mersey Care NHS Trusts; Board Member, OnGo Housing; Director, Aurora Peak Ltd.
Tony MuirTony is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and he has worked in property asset management for over 30 years. His roles have spanned the private sector, public sector and over the last five years, Social housing. Tony has worked in property consultancy working with various nationwide clients, advising on both the clientside and delivering as a contractor or supply chain partner. Tony is an experienced Statutory CompanyDirector previously managing a number of property services companies delivering to major local authorities and housing providers. His most recent roles in housing have seen him operating at Director and Executive level reporting to the Board.
Key Skills: Property Asset Management, Health and Safety and property compliance, operational performance and Sustainability.
Declarations of Interest: None
Sarah Swindley (Co-opted Board Member)Sarah is CEO of the Lake District Foundation, an independent charity working with the National Park Partnership to drive innovation in fundraising, grant making and new models of finance.
Sarah is also a non-executive director of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.
She has a particular interest in connecting the natural environment with communities who don’t traditionally access our national parks and with the wellbeing benefits of our natural world.
Key Skills : Strategy, Partnerships, Community Engagement, Social Value.
Declarations of Interest: Board Director of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Trustee of South Westmorland Multi Academy Trust.
David Butcher (Independent Member of Audit and Risk Committee)David is a chartered accountant and has held various financial management positions in both private and public sectors.
He is currently Director of Finance and University Secretary at Leeds Trinity University, with responsibilities including strategic and operational financial management, strategic business planning and leading on the risk management processes.
David grew up in and still has ties to the South Lakes area and is keen to support SLH in the key role it plays in the area.
Key Skills : Finance and Risk Management.
Declarations of Interest: Governor at Shipley College.
- Board Directors
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