Mervyn has extensive experience within the housing sector, most recently as Chief Executive at Yorkshire Housing, a position which he held for over 10 years. Prior to this, Mervyn was Chief Executive at Willow Park Housing Trust in Wythenshawe, as well as sitting on a number of housing-related Boards as a non-executive member. Mervyn joined Equity’s Board in April 2019 and then joined Great Places’ Board following the partnership in April 2020. Mervyn was appointed as the Chair of Great Places in January 2024.
Christine is a senior manager with a wide range of executive and non-executive experience, most recently as Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director People for New Charter Group. Christine’s early career was in the Civil Service where she specialised in Learning and Development. She is currently an Independent OD Consultant and Executive Coach and is an Advisory Board member of Girls out Loud, a social enterprise working to raise the aspirations of teenage girls.
Keith, a Chartered Accountant, is a recently retired external audit partner and National Head of Social Housing services at RSM, a top seven global firm of chartered accountants. For over three decades, Keith has worked alongside housing associations providing assurance, training, compliance and advisory services and being a critical friend to many social housing entities. Keith has worked closely with the National Housing Federation and has been a regular presenter at social housing events. Keith was an elected parent governor of his children’s Stockport MBC secondary school, serving two terms of four years. Keith was appointed as the Chair of the Audit and Assurance Committee in September 2024.
Alison Dean is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Places.
She has over 20 years experience working in the housing sector, starting her career in customer involvement, before branching into regeneration and a variety of housing and management roles
Emma graduated with first class honours in Urban Land Economics from Sheffield Hallam University and is well versed in design, planning, procurement and legal governance. She brings with her a wealth of development experience, having been Head of (Pre Construction) Development at Berkeley Homes (North East London) and Residential Development Director for Westfield. Emma is the Founding Director of development company The Vesta Group which works alongside local authorities, land owners and Pension Funds.
Emma became Chair of Cube Homes Board in September 2023, and was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Great Places Board in November 2023.
John has worked in the Housing and Development sector for 36 years, with extensive experience of delivering Open Market, Partnership and Regeneration schemes.
He spent 15 years as MD of Barratt Partnerships, securing public land to deliver over 18,000 homes. Prior to this he was Development and Planning Director for the Liverpool Housing Action Trust.
Patrick has a wealth of business experience with more than 26 years at Berendsen, spending 9 years as Regional Director and was a Director at Jewson. He is passionate about supporting organisations with their strategy for sustainable business growth, people and team development and their well-being. He is Non-Executive Director at Ubico Ltd and a Trustee at Forward Education Trust. He has strong strategic, planning, operations, and commercial skills in the UK markets in B2B and B2C, including the public sector, and has extensive experience in leading account management, strategy for multi-million-pound contracts and delivering service excellence.
Sandra has extensive Director experience in the private and government funded sector, leading work in business and customer strategy, transformation, communications, marketing, and stakeholder engagement. As a Consultant Director for Corporate Culture Group she has over ten years experience leading large-scale consultancy work for national and global clients and prior to this held several Director roles for United Utilities, including Strategy & Marketing Director and was Director of Public Affairs for a government agency. Her non-executive experience includes nine years as a Board member in social housing, as well as being on the Board of a not for profit provider of adult social care, and a social enterprise enabling community empowerment of health and wellbeing issues.
John-Paul has extensive experience across the property sector, predominantly within Residential Sales, Lettings and Property Management. He was the founder and Managing Director of Case McNair Estate Agents, a business acquired by Savills UK Ltd in 2018. John-Paul works for Savills holding regional responsibility across the Midlands, North and Scotland. In his time at Savills John-Paul has worked on large scale Build to Rent Schemes and forged partnerships with institutional clients. He works in the Sports and Entertainment team covering Northern markets and has a strong background in consultancy assignments or private clients.
Dean is a highly experienced business leader, with an extensive background in retail. He has worked for some of the UK’s largest organisations including ASDA and Sainsburys. During his 15 years as a Director for Sainsburys, he has held senior positions in retail, international sourcing and was also the Group Property Director with responsibility for a 2100 store estate. Since 2021 he has worked as a consultant and senior advisor, supporting both UK and international businesses across a wider range of strategic areas. He has a passion for ensuring that customers and colleagues are central to business decisions.
Nicki has over twenty years’ of experience creating and executing data-driven, customer-focused technology and data strategies, and has worked across the private and public sectors in multiple industries. She was Chief Technology Officer at Irwin Mitchell (legal and financial services) for almost 5 years, and prior to that Head of IS Strategy and Digital Services at Electricity North West, and lead technology strategist at the British Library. Nicki has a passion for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and in 2023 switched her career to focus on delivering at scale social mobility. She currently works for STEM Learning UK and the National Centre for Computing Education where she helps hundreds of businesses each year introduce school engagement programmes to support better outcomes for young people across the UK.
Matt is an experienced senior leader who has spent time in retail, corporate banking, telecoms and housing. He has previous experience as a NED; at Trafford Housing Trust, as well as having sat as the Chairman of their development business, THT Developments. Today, he leads Openreach’s Fibre and Network Delivery business. This is a team of 11,000 people and thousands more contractors who are running, maintaining and building the UK’s digital infrastructure. He brings, to Great Places, significant experience in digital transformation, complex asset management and service excellence.
Simran brings a wealth of experience and expertise in growth, acquisitions and asset investment. He previously held various senior finance positions in the chemicals sector for Courtaulds, ICI and Ineos, working in the UK, USA and the Far East. He joined Places for People in 2003 where he worked for over 14 years, including as Group Finance Director and Director of Assets and Investments, before moving into independent consulting and building a portfolio of company directorships.
To demonstrate compliance with Section 1.5 (3) of the NHF Code of Governance 2020, we are publishing our register of interests for Great Places Board, Cube Board and associated parties. This is reported annually to Board, with declarations of interest tabled as a standing item at all Board and Committee meetings as well as being updated throughout the year as required.
