Our Board is responsible for setting our overall strategy, deciding policies and reviewing performance. It is legally accountable for the ownership of our homes and running the organisation. Our Board members change from time to time.
The Board has several committees which oversee different aspects of the organisation and meet the requirements of the Regulator of Social Housing. You can find out more about these below.
Andrew McConnell OBE
Board Chair
Andrew is a Chartered Accountant who latterly worked as Director of Finance at the University of Huddersfield until his retirement in 2021.
Andrew now holds several non-executive posts and is a past Chair of the British Universities Finance Directors’ Group. He is Chair of the Board of the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, and a Board member and Finance Committee Chair at the Education and Training Foundation.
He was awarded an OBE for services to accounting and the community in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2015.
Ajman Ali
Ajman has worked in local government and the housing sector for over 30 years, with a track record of delivering high quality services and organisational change, focusing on delivering positive outcomes and excellent services for customers.
He has worked in several local authorities including housing associations in South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, and as an Executive Director at Sheffield City Council, leading the Council’s neighbourhood services.
Ajman has held various non-executive Director positions and currently serves on the Board of Arches Housing Ltd. He is a practicing Magistrate.
Elizabeth Cook
Senior Independent Director and Governance and People Committee Chair
Liz is a collaborative and cohesive leader who is passionate about ensuring that everyone has a good quality affordable home. She is committed to the delivery of homes and services in Wakefield and the surrounding area, which has been her home for the last 20 years.
She joined Bury Council in May 2022 as Director of Housing and has worked in public sector housing for over 30 years at Chesterfield Borough Council, Leeds City Council, Sheffield City Council and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Liz is currently a non-executive Director for the Northern Housing Consortium as well as Board Director at Unity Housing Association.
Stephen Davis
Property Investment Committee Chair
Stephen has extensive knowledge of social housing, architecture, design, development, procurement and compliance. He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and spent 17 years as Executive Director of Asset Management, Regeneration and Construction at Berneslai Homes. He has also worked as an Architect in both the public and private sector, including senior roles at Barnsley Council.
Stephen has been a non-executive Director of Efficiency North Holdings Ltd for many years.
His interests include rugby league, crown green bowling, reading and walking.
Michael Graham
Michael is a former secondary school teacher and current Labour Party and Cooperative councillor representing Wakefield West.
Elected in 2017, he has held multiple portfolios within Wakefield Metropolitan District Council including Resources; Culture, Leisure and Sport; as well as Skills and Digital Capabilities.
Michael is currently the Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration and Economic Growth.
Suzan Harrington
Suzan is a Local Government Lawyer and has provided legal advice for 30 years. Her career has included roles at Wakefield Council, City of York Council, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Selby Council and North Yorkshire Council. She has extensive experience as a senior manager, specialising in legal compliance, corporate governance, risk management and ethical conduct.
As part of her previous roles, Suzan dealt with a range of difficult issues relating to the management of risk, which has given her a thorough understanding of accountability, both democratic and financial, in the local government context.
She has a background in working in complex organisations and significant experience of working in an organisation that delivers diverse services to diverse communities.
Shendi Keshet
Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee Chair
Shendi is a qualified accountant and a career interim Finance Director, with experience in both the private and public sectors and within the housing sector, most recently at a large housing association in the south west of England.
A speaker at a national level, Shendi writes articles in the housing sector press and has many years of experience working on boards, enabling businesses to thrive.
Currently, she is the part time Chief Finance Officer of a multinational music education charity in Bolivia, which provides talented children with a first-class musical education to enhance their confidence, job opportunities and to enable them to act as role models within their local communities.
Clare King
Customer Committee Chair
Clare has over 35 years’ experience in the social housing sector and began her career as a Graduate Housing Management Trainee at Rugby Borough Council. She has a Postgraduate Diploma in Housing and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Clare is passionate about the delivery of excellent customer service and has a strong background in strategic leadership and operational management, transformational change, integration, customer service and engagement, asset management, governance, finance, and investment.
Clare works as a consultant across the housing sector and was previously on the Board at Six Town Housing and Chair of their Audit and Risk Committee. She was also a board member at Heywood New Deal for Communities.
Mike Longfellow
A former member of the British Army, Mike has almost 20 years' experience of delivering award-winning digital transformation and performance marketing programmes for organisations across the world.
He has vast experience across the housing, property, retail and highly regulated sectors and is currently a Director within a Leeds based Digital Agency. Mike has experience as a non-executive Director at Aspire Community Benefit Society, supporting the successful transition from Leeds City Council, as well as time spent as a school governor.
Mike is a former semi-professional footballer and and is now a youth football coach, sharing his love for the game with children aged four to nine throughout Rothwell and the surrounding areas.
Gareth Mann-Tighe
An experienced risk and governance professional with over 20 years’ experience in the IT Industry, Gareth is also a WDH tenant and appreciates the importance of ensuring the organisation operates in the most efficient manner possible, delivering high quality and safe homes.
Throughout his career, he has amassed a wealth of experience in multiple disciplines including project management, technology deployment, performance management and improvement, system and process integration and automation, acquisition integration, risk management, customer excellence and business improvement.
Gareth brings a passion for fostering a culture of continuous learning, and championing diversity and inclusion. He is committed to promoting responsible corporate citizenship and strives to be a catalyst for positive change within every organisation he is associated with.
Antony Nelson
Antony started his professional career as an Occupational Therapist specialising in supporting those living with severe and enduring mental ill health.
Since 2013, he has been designing, delivering and implementing change and organisational development initiatives across the NHS, local authorities, the wider public sector, charities and aligned businesses. From 2018 to 2022, Antony served as the Managing Director of Conexus Healthcare (the General Practice Federation in Wakefield) leading the organisation through a challenging period to deliver sustained and significant growth and development.
Antony is a trustee/director of Groundwork Yorkshire and of Groundwork UK the federation of Groundwork Charities, a Trustee of Nova Wakefield and the Independent Chair of the Board of two Primary Care Networks in North West England.
Governance Structure
Our governance structure provides the framework within which the business is run. This is outlined in our key governing documents. A high level summary is below.
Our Board Committees
This Committee considers all matters relating to the audit activities of WDH and in particular any duties and requirements set out in any guidance and policies issued by the Regulator of Social Housing and the Charity Commission's Hallmarks of an Effective Charity. It considers matters including internal and external audit, bad debt write off, business continuity and risk management.
Committee members: Shendi Keshet (Chair), Suzan Harrington, Mike Longfellow, Gareth Mann-Tighe, Stephen Mullaney (Independent Committee Member).
Our Customer Committee considers matters relating to operational activities, including housing management, to ensure that through close consultation and engagement with our customers, we meet our Vision and Values. The Committee also ensures we comply with the requirements set out by the Regulator of Social Housing and that we adhere to the principles in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
Committee members: Clare King (Chair), Shendi Keshet, Gareth Mann-Tighe, Antony Nelson, Iain Shorthose (Independent Committee Member), tenant representatives.
This Committee considers all matters relating to governance, Board and organisational development, including how we ensure effective leadership and employee resourcing. It meets requirements set by the Regulator of Social Housing and those related to equality, diversity and inclusion, employee health and safety and safeguarding.
Committee members: Elizabeth Cook (Chair), Ajman Ali, Stephen Davis, Michael Graham, Suzan Harrington, Andrew McConnell.
The main role of this Committee is to consider matters relating to asset management, including how we will maintain and improve assets through compliance, replacement and regeneration, all non-social housing activities, and all new build and development matters. The Committee also looks at how we will deliver our obligations against Homes England grant funding programmes and scrutinises performance of existing activities.
Committee members: Stephen Davis (Chair), Ajman Ali, Elizabeth Cook, Michael Graham, Clare King, Antony Nelson.
Our Corporate Management Team is responsible for managing us within the rules and policies agreed by the Board.
Our Board
We are registered with the Regulator of Social Housing, which regulates independent housing organisations throughout the country. We meet the Regulator of Social Housing’s registration conditions and keep to its regulatory code. This makes sure that we are run well and gives you services which are managed properly.
Our Board is legally accountable for the ownership of our properties and has overall responsibility for running the organisation. It agrees our strategies and policies, and our overall service development and sets the strategic direction for the organisation. Our Board is made up of between seven and 11 members, chosen for their particular skills, knowledge and experience to ensure we have a strong and effective Board.
Neighbourhood Panels
There are seven Neighbourhood Panels, one for each neighbourhood in the Wakefield district. Panels are made up of tenants and community representatives. Each panel is chaired by a tenant and the seven panel chairs are also members of the Customer Committee, which is a subcommittee of the Board.
The Neighbourhood Panels help to determine local priorities and contribute to the development, implementation and challenge of local plans and engagement strategies.
Who can be a Board or Neighbourhood Panel Member?
Our Board and Neighbourhood Panels aim to make sure local people are directly involved in identifying priorities for their area and providing local solutions to local issues.
We need to have the right people helping us make decisions, so we are very thorough when choosing Board and Panel members and have a rigorous recruitment and selection process for new members of the Board and Neighbourhood Panels. Wakefield Council nominates its Neighbourhood Panel representatives based on their relevant skills and experience. To encourage other local people to become involved, we advertise locally and nationally when Board vacancies become available.
In line with our chosen Code of Governance, declarations of interest are held on a register that’s reported annually to the board.
Our declarations of interest register is available for anyone to see. Please contact us and we’ll send you a copy.