Governance

Meet our board and learn about Pine Court Housing Association’s commitment to environmental, social and governance factors.

Our board

Our board members set the strategic direction of our business and monitor the achievement of our vision to ‘create opportunities and change lives’ as we strengthen our inclusive, thriving communities. They scrutinise and evaluate our services to ensure we remain well managed through effective leadership. 

  • Steve has extensive experience within the voluntary sector and as a governor in primary and secondary schools.

    Now retired, he acts as the Chair of Pine Court Housing Association’s board, is an elected Secretary of the Liverpool Schools Football Association and  is also a volunteer guide for the National Trust at Speke Hall.

    Before retirement, Steve worked in senior roles across local authorities and in the housing sector including Area Relationship Director for Knowsley Borough Council addressing issues around education, environment and social inclusion.

    He has previous board experience, following his previous role as a Board Member for Age Concern UK.

  • Roy is a professionally qualified fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

    Roy is the Chief Executive Officer of The Sovini Group and One Vision Housing, and holds a number of non-executive director positions with external organisations.

    He is also on the boards of One Vision Housing and The Sovini Group.

  • Mike has previously worked for North Wales Police where he worked as a Director of Finance and Resource. 

    He has also worked in various roles across the public and private sector, including Wirral Met College and North Wales newspapers. 

  • Julia is currently the Managing Director of Maximum Impact Solutions Ltd, a management and information company that specialises in using business intelligence to improve organisational performance.

    Since 2001, Julia has led her company to assist a number of public and private sector organisations including the NHS, developing intelligence solutions that provide an insight into areas of service improvement.  

    Julia has a passion for community projects and is a volunteer for the Princes Trust as well as being a board member of Elevate Education Business Partnership, supporting and advising local, regional and national partners in the field of education business links, employability and skills agendas.

  • Jim has over 25 years of experience in senior management roles, working across a number of service areas including manufacturing, sales and marketing, research and development, supply chain, quality, environmental health and safety, and facilities.

    Together with his role as Head of Operations for Electrium Sales Ltd, a Siemens Company, Jim is also responsible for sourcing of materials and components from China, India and Vietnam, in addition to a manufacturing business in South Africa and Lesotho.

    Jim is on the board for BEAMA, a UK Trade Association for Electrical Manufacturing and The Sovini Group.

  • Gill is a Chief Executive Officer of Elevate, a leading Education Business Partnership which has grown from a community organisation to a successful not for profit company under her leadership.

    With over 10 years’ leadership experience, she has a proven track record leading and delivering projects, managing organisational and cultural change, building productive partnerships across the region and has a clear understanding of the socio-economic environment in which Pine Court Housing Association operates.

    Gill is highly skilled in strategic leadership, service planning, partnership development, organisational, project and people management.

Our board is assisted by a Risk and Assurance Committee, which provides robust scrutiny, audit and risk monitoring of its activities. The committee is led by our non-executive Chair, Mike Parkin. 


Environmental, social and corporate governance

We are striving to drive positive change within the housing sector and our robust Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) propositions play a vital role in setting our strategic direction.

During 2021/22, we were proud to create a real impact for those living within our homes, the wider community, businesses across the region, and the economy.

  • Environmental criteria considers how we use energy and manage our environmental impact. Factors include:

    • energy efficiency
    • climate change
    • carbon emissions
    • biodiversity
    • air and water quality
    • waste management

    Since 2010/11 we have worked hard to reduce our carbon footprint by 64% and are striving towards The Sovini Group’s net-zero carbon commitment.

  • Social criteria examines how we foster our people and culture, and how that has a ripple effect on our

    broader community. Factors include:

    • inclusivity
    • gender and diversity
    • employee engagement
    • customer satisfaction
    • data protection and privacy
    • community relations
    • human rights
    • labour standards

    In April 2021 we were named as the UK’s Best Workplaces™ for the third time and hold accreditations from:

    • Investors in People
    • Disability Confident Employer
    • Armed Forces Covenant
    • Mindful Employer
  • Governance criteria considers our internal practices and procedures, creates transparency and ensures we adhere to industry best practice. Factors include:

    • leadership
    • board composition
    • executive compensation
    • audit committee structure
    • internal controls
    • shareholder rights
    • bribery and corruption
    • lobbying
    • political contributions
    • whistle-blower programme

    We are compliant with the National Housing Federation’s ‘Code of Governance 2020’, ensuring transparency and confidence in our activities.

    Our management systems are also UKAS accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 140001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 standards.

As part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, we complete a voluntary self-assessment annually across the ESG reporting framework. This enables us to report on our performance in a transparent, consistent and comparable way.


Board Composition

Current profile and comparisons

The demographics of the current PCHA Board is as follows;

  • 43% of the board are women
  • 29% of the board are BAME
  • 0% of the board have a disability
  • Average age of the board is 59 years old

In comparison the demographics of PCHA customers is as follows;

  • 59% of customers are women
  • 41% of customers are BAME
  • 86% of customers have some form of a disability
  • Average age of PCHA customers is 58 years old

In comparison the demographics of Liverpool’s population is as follows;

  • 50% (Liverpool) of residents are women
  • 11% (Liverpool) of residents are BAME
  • Average age of residents is 35 years old (Liverpool)

 

This information is used to inform future Board Member recruitment.