Our Board
Hightown is led by a Board of Non-Executive Directors. The Board is responsible for providing long-term, strategic direction for the Association.
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Bob Macnaughton Joined Board 2015 |
Chartered Accountant and former company Chief Executive. He has had a career as a senior executive in a number of large and small businesses. More recently he has been involved in the development of commercial property and renewable energy schemes. He is Chair of Board of Trustees of ACS International Schools and is a Board member at the University of Hertfordshire. |
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Cordelia Pace Joined Board 2017 |
Senior Legal Counsel. A qualified solicitor, employed as Senior Legal Counsel and Compliance Manager for INEOS Oil & Gas UK. In her current role within a large commercial company, Cordelia analyses and advises the company on how to manage its business safely, transparently and responsibly. Her role is to ensure clear governance and compliance structures are in place and used which allow the company to grow and develop. |
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Sarah Pickup CBE Joined the Board in 2017 |
Qualified Accountant, Sarah is Acting Chief Executive of the Local Government Association (LGA). In her current role she is engaged in national policy discussions on a range of matters including social care, local government finance and national housing policy. She is chair of HUC, a community interest company delivering primary care and integrated urgent care services for a number of Integrated Care Boards. She is also Trustee of the Nuffield Trust and of a local arts charity in Hertford. Sarah has extensive experience in the social care sector including commissioning and being responsible for the management of care and supported housing. |
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Sarah Barton Joined the Board in 2021 |
FCA Qualified Finance Director. Former Interim Finance Director at CARE International UK until June 2022, an International NGO where she managed the UK Finance team on all aspects of financial reporting, control and finance operations. Previously Director of Financial Reporting at The Guinness Partnership. Sarah has wide experience of financial leadership across all key areas including statutory reporting, control, treasury, budgeting and capital planning, forecasting, and investment portfolio management. |
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Alan Head Joined the Board in 2018 |
Retired building surveyor. Experienced non-executive director in the residential development and construction sectors. Alan's last employment was Head of Major Projects at Three Rivers District Council where he was responsible for the direction and commerciality of the Council’s development, property investment and major construction projects. |
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David Matthews Joined the Board in 2020 |
A professional Banker. Currently Managing Director, Head of Loan Capital Markets EMEA at Barclays Investment Bank where he leads a team which structures loans for large corporate clients. David is involved in a range of debt and risk management products. David's interest in the social housing sector is long standing and he was instrumental in establishing Barclays’ first dedicated Housing Association team in the 1990s. |
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Zeena Farook Joined the Board in 2023 |
Chartered Civil Engineer and employed as Strategy Director for ArcadisGen, providing Asset Management Solutions which look at improving efficiency and NZC outcomes globally. Zeena has over 18 years' experience in the Built Environment and has a breadth of experience from development, leading site works on major projects, to sustainability and digital solutions, building this capability into a Global business. |
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Chris Ellmore Joined the Board in 2023 |
A qualified Accountant and qualified chartered Treasurer. Director of Corporate Finance for Moat Homes, a 20,000 unit Housing association based in London and the south east. Chris has responsibility for treasury, long term planning, regulatory returns, investment appraisal and rent setting.
Before joining Moat, Chris worked for a number of Local Government and Housing Association organisations in a variety of different finance roles. |
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Charmaine De Souza Joined the Board in 2021 |
Experienced HR leader. Currently Chief People Officer at Oxford Health NHS Trust. Charmaine has worked across a range of sectors including the BBC, central government, London government and the third sector. She is a member of the People and Culture Advisory Group for the Money and Pensions Service. |
Our Executive Team
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David Bogle Chief Executive |
David Bogle is Chief Executive of Hightown Housing Association. He has worked in social housing for over 40 years including 25 years as Chief Executive of Hightown and is a Fellow of the Chartered institute of Housing. David is Chair of the Homes for Cathy group which is a group of around 100 housing associations and housing charities which works with Crisis and others to encourage housing associations to do more to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping and to lobby for more resources to end homelessness. See www.homesforcathy.org.uk |
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Amy Laurie Director of Care & Supported Housing – job share |
Amy has 18 years’ experience in the supported housing & care sector, 2 years working frontline in services, 7 in operational management & 9 delivering strategic management. Amy is a certified practitioner of the Chartered Institute of Housing, holding professional qualifications in both supported housing and leadership & management. Amy is an expert in designing & delivering housing and support solutions across cohorts, including the formation of social enterprise schemes. As an experienced senior leader Amy has been influential in delivering new initiatives within the sector & enhancing existing provision in key areas including; Complex Needs HRS, VCS Services, Supported Living & Care. |
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Gemma Richardson Director of Care & Supported Housing – job share |
Having graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with her BSc in Psychology, Gemma joined Hightown as a graduate trainee in 2005 while completing work placements across the business including Housing, Leasehold, Development, Asset Management and Income Recovery. Having completed the graduate programme Gemma moved into the first of many managerial roles for Hightown commencing within the general needs housing and operations team. Since then Gemma has moved across the business and in 2012 joined the C&SH department as a senior leader. She went on to work as the Head of Department for C&SH overseeing county wide contracts and service delivery until her recent appointment into the position of Director – a role she shares with her job share partner Amy Laurie. |
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Andrew Royall Director of Development |
Andrew Royall holds a BA Hons in Housing Studies from Sheffield Hallam University and is a Member of Chartered Institute of Housing. He has over 30 years’ experience of working in housing in a number of organisations including a local authority, three housing associations doing policy work, managing a range of supported housing services and property development. He also spent three years working on a construction training/housing development project in a South African township. Andrew has worked for Hightown since 2003 starting as a Supported Housing Manager in the Care and Supported Housing Department before moving into Development. He spent 12 years as Head of Development before taking up the post as Director of Development in 2017. |
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David Skinner Director of Financial Services |
David Skinner has 45 years financial experience in the not-for-profit sector including 20 years in local government finance and the last 25 years working for Housing Associations. He began working in the social housing sector in 1997 with the William Sutton Trust and then as Finance Director to their subsidiary Ridgehill. In 2006 David joined the newly merged Affinity Sutton Housing Group as Director of Financial Services and in February 2009, after a short period of interim assignments, David joined Hightown Housing Association as Director of Financial Services. David is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (FCT). |
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Natalie Sturrock Director of Housing |
Natalie Sturrock holds a BA Hons in Sociology from the University of Exeter, and is a Chartered Member of Chartered Institute of Housing, having completed the Level 5 Professional Diploma in Housing in 2017. She has over 13 years’ experience of working in housing, and started her career as a Tenant Board Member for a Housing Association in South-West England. Natalie has extensive experience of housing management and has worked for Hightown since 2008. She started as a Graduate Trainee, before moving into Home Ownership and then General Needs housing management. She spent 7 and a half years as Head of Housing, before taking up the post of Director of Housing in June 2022. |
The Board meet seven times a year in addition to two Strategy Days. The Board is supported by five Committees who each meet four times a year to scrutinise issues in depth and make recommendations to the Board. The current Committee Structure is as follows:
Risk & Audit Committee – who oversee Hightown's systems of internal controls and its risk management framework as well as maintaining a direct relationship with Hightown's Internal and External Auditors.
Treasury Committee – who maintain an oversight of Hightown's funding arrangements including the management and mitigation of the treasury risks.
Operations Committee – who focus on the performance of Hightown's services to its residents and service users to gain assurance that services are maintained at a high standard and that insight from residents' experience influences Board decisions.
Development Committee – who monitor and review Hightown's development strategy and programme to support the Association to maintain its ambitious delivery objectives. The Development Committee have delegated authority to approve some development schemes.
Remuneration & Nominations Committee – who maintain oversight of the membership, composition, and skills of the Board to ensure good governance of the Association. The Committee also make recommendations to the Board in relation to senior staff remuneration issues and review the Associations performance in relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and policies in relation to Hightown's people.
Hightown's Executive Leadership Team are responsible for ensuring that the Board's strategic priorities are delivered and for the management of the day to day running of the Association.
The Board annually reviews its own performance and effectiveness and is mindful of the need to ensure that collectively, it has the diversity, skills and attributes required to help Hightown to achieve its objectives. The board member biographies demonstrate the broad range of skills that benefit the effective governance of the Association. The current composition of the Board is as follows:
Gender Female - 5 Male - 4
Ethnicity White British 7 Other 2
Age Range 42 - 75
Our Board members complete an annual Declaration of Interest form and inform the Company Secretary of any changes as they occur. The declared interests of our Board members are available on request to the Company Secretary Trudi.kleanthous@hightownha.org.uk