HIGHTOWN HOUSING ASSOCIATION - Key Persons


Alan Head

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Development Committee and Member of the Risk & Audit and Remuneration & Nominations Committees
Alan Head Joined the Board in 2018 Chair of the Development Committee and member of the Risk & Audit and Remuneration & Nominations Committees 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.

Amy Laurie

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team
  • 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.

Andrew Royall

Job Titles:
  • Director of Development
  • Member of the Executive Team
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.

Bob Macnaughton - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Board
  • Member of the Remuneration & Nominations Committee

Chris Ellmore

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Risk & Audit Committee
Chris previously worked for Moat as Interim Executive Director Finance where he had responsibility for all finance and procurement aspects of the business as well as developing the wider corporate strategy.

Cordelia Pace

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chair
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.

David Bogle - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive
  • Member of the Executive Team
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

David Matthews

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Risk & Audit Committee
David Matthews Joined the Board in 2020 Member of the Risk & Audit Committee 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.

David Skinner

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team
  • 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).

Gemma Richardson

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team
  • 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.

Natalie Sturrock

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team
  • 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.

Sarah Barton

Job Titles:
  • Member of Risk & Audit and Development Committees
Sarah Barton Joined the Board in 2021 Member of Risk & Audit and Development Committees 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.

Sarah Pickup

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chair
Qualified Accountant, Sarah is Deputy 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.

Zeena Farook

Zeena Farook Co-opted to the Board in 2023 Member of the Development and Operations Committees 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.