We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Deakin as the new Chair of its Group Board, succeeding Andy Jones who had served his full term of office.
With over 25 years’ experience working in social housing, Tony has held several Executive and Non-Executive roles in both Wales and England. These have included roles with both stock transfer and traditional Registered Social Landlords as well as local authority housing departments. Tony is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.
John Keegan, MHA CEO said:
We are delighted the Board has selected Tony Deakin as our new Chair.
Tony has decades of experience in the Housing Sector and understands both the commercial demands of running a sustainable business and the social heart that motivates all we do.
Tony is no stranger to MHA, having been a Board member for 7 years, 3 of which being vice Chair. Tony is aware of the issues, played his part in developing our Vision and has the backing of a very well qualified and knowledgeable Board to tackle the issues of the present and future.
We look forward to a very productive relationship in the coming years, making a real difference to the lives of our residents and communities.
Tony commented on his appointment:
I feel very honoured and privileged to have been appointed as Chair of MHA, following in the big footsteps left by outgoing Chair Andy Jones.
In the past few years, we have learned very valuable lessons about managing the organisation in turbulent times, which has equipped MHA with experience and resilience to face new challenges as they arise.
We are currently dealing with a severe cost of living crisis particularly affecting the most vulnerable in our society and those on a lower income and are determined to do what we can to help alleviate some of that pain.
Like most businesses our income has taken a hit during the current economic climate, we must continue to focus on how we can maintain quality services to our customers and build and acquire new homes with less resources.
We are actively seeking to build as many new homes as we can to help reduce the demand for housing but recognise there are real challenges in finding suitable land to build on.
Councillor Dimitri Batrouni has been appointed as MHA’s Vice Chair. Cllr Batrouni currently serves as a local representative for the Gaer and Maesglas ward in Newport and is the Cabinet Member for organisational transformation.
He is a Senior Analyst for the Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA) attached to the Ministry of Justice set up to monitor Brexit and citizens’ rights.
He grew up in Monmouthshire and is a passionate supporter of providing services and support to the people of Monmouthshire.
