Our Board

Tom Vaughan

Tom joined the Board in July 2023 and is Vice Board Chair and Chair of the Customer Committee. Tom is also a Member of the People & Governance Committee.

Tom holds a portfolio of non-executive roles in a range of sectors including housing, where he is a board member and chair of the Customer Services Committee at LiveWest Homes, a board member  at Clevedon Pier and Chair of the Clevedon BID. Prior to this he has been Chair of Flocert GMBH, a global Fairtrade standards licensing company, Vice Chair of Freedom Food  (RSPCA) and held board roles at 3 other Housing Associations (Thrive, Aashyana and Knightstone) between 2011 and 2019.

Previously Tom had a successful executive career in customer facing marketing leadership roles for Unilever and for BP where he lead the brand and communication strategies for BP and Castrol globally, and for Affinity Sutton, a 56,000 homes Housing Association where he was instrumental in the transformation programme with McKinsey and one of the earliest digital strategy implementations in the sector.

Susan Goldsmith

A qualified Chartered Accountant, Susan brings extensive experience in leading regulated, safety-critical, customer-facing organisations to the Board of PA Housing. She has a proven track record in driving business performance and transformation with a focus on improving customer experience. She also sits on the Board of GreenSquareAccord (a housing association and provider of care support services) and London Marathon Events Ltd and undertakes various customer experience-based consulting assignments.

Susan was deputy Chief Executive at the medical regulator the General Medical Council and prior to that Operations Director at airport group BAA with specific responsibility for Heathrow. Before joining BAA Susan held various senior roles including Deputy Chief Executive at transport and logistics group National Express. Her earlier career was based in Retail (Kingfisher Group) and Media (Bertelsmann Media Group-Random House, BMG etc).

Susan joined the Board in August 2023 and is Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee. She is also a Member of the Customer Committee and Chairs Paragon Treasury Plc.

Andrew Carrington

Andrew joined the Board in 2020 and is Chair of the Investment Committee. He is a Member of the People & Governance Committee and a Director of Paragon Development and Construction Services Limited and Asra Construction Services Limited. Andrew is a Chartered Surveyor with 30 years experience in the housing and property sector. He has particular expertise in land and development having worked at Countryside Properties for over 15 years, latterly as Managing Director, Strategic Land, where he was responsible for delivering a number of award winning new communities. He is the Founding Director of Telegraph Hill Consulting, a consultancy which advices landowners on the promotion and delivery of large scale new communities.   His early career was as a Real Estate Consultant with Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman & Wakefield. 

Jo Banfield

Since 2017 Jo has been the HR Director at Grosvenor Property UK, a £5bn estate, leading 13 HR professionals as the company has evolved with revised People and Culture strategies and clear ambitions on increasing diversity and inclusivity within the business.

Jo started her executive career on the graduate programme at Marks & Spencer, spending 6-years in HR management roles in store and at regional store level. This was followed by 17-years in a variety of UK and International HR roles in Ford Motor Company, Centrica Plc, AOL and DST Systems (a financial software company) including line management of a water billing business.

Additionally, Jo has held non-executive roles at Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead Housing Association, been Chair of Oatlands Pre-School Nursery and is currently Chair of the People in Property HR Director networking Group.

Jo joined the PA Housing Board in July 2023. Jo is Chair of the People and Governance Committee and is also a Member of the Investment Committee. Jo is also the Health & Safety Board Lead.

Tim Hill

Since 2017 Tim has been helping housebuilders, Housing Associations and Dandara (UK Housing) set up strategies to review risk around  people, policies, development opportunities, finance and the roll out of new integrated IT.

Tim started his career in 1990 with a graduate training contract with Brooking Knowles and Lawrence, a Hampshire based firm of chartered accountants. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1993 and progressed to managing their Fareham non audit clients. Tim switched into housebuilding in 1996 with Alfred McAlpine, followed by 25 years with Taylor Wimpey PLC or Barratt Developments PLC as a Finance , Sales or Managing Director with responsibility for up to 6 Directors and 1,000 completions a year. Tim was a keen customer champion in all his roles with a particular focus and specialism on improving customer complaints processes. He also acted at Barratt Developments PLC as a Mentor and Graduate assessor for the national business.

Tim is currently an Independent development committee member of Walsall Housing group and volunteers helping students practice interviews at Havant and South Downs College.

Tim was an independent member of the PA Housing’s Investment Committee since 2020 and is now a Member of that Committee since he joined the PA Housing Board in August 2023. He is also a Member of the Investment Committee and Chair of Paragon Development and Construction Services Limited and Asra Construction Services Limited.

Emma McLachlan

Since 2020, Emma has been a Director at NHS England, leading digital transformation of people and patient-facing services to increase people’s ability to manage their health and care needs through the NHS App and NHS website.

Emma has over 20 years’ experience in digital transformation, marketing and communication across multiple industry sectors including health, media and retail. Her work has focussed on the use of technology to improve customer experience, drive innovation and improve sales and operational performance for companies including Walt Disney, Nissan and Kellogg’s.

Emma joined the Board in 2023 as an Associate Member and was appointed as a full Member with effect from 1 September 2024. Emma is also a Member of the Customer Committee and Investment Committee.

Emma volunteers as a Trustee for Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Surrey.

Tim Jennings

Tim is a chartered accountant commencing his working life in the audit function of a professional services firm before moving to client-side operating roles. He spent 20+years at Capita Plc rising to lead in multiple Divisional FD roles, before joining Aldwyck Housing Association in 2015 as Executive Director Finance and subsequently Executive Director of Finance at Catalyst Housing Association until 2022 leading all financial aspects in the transformation of Aldwyck Housing Association with a focus on customers. Tim has extensive Executive Director experience of the regulated sector of social housing including the IDA process and the metrics that are key to managing the on-going business for all stakeholders including funders. Tim is also a Board Member of Community Housing, Cambridge Housing Society, Ability Housing, and GB Social Housing Plc.  

Rahul Jaitly

Rahul joined the Board in 2020 and serves on the Finance, Risk & Audit Committee and the People & Governance Committee. With over 25 years of experience, Rahul is a seasoned technologist who has worked across various industries undergoing significant change including financial services, media & entertainment, travel & hospitality, housing & construction and private equity / venture capital backed high-tech start-ups. He has held leadership roles in global IT, digital transformation management, and board advisory services, helping world-class, market-leading companies navigate and thrive in dynamic environments. Rahul has extensive experience in online marketing, fast consumer goods retailing, and end-to-end supply chain transformation. He also has a strong academic and research foundation, holding a PhD in Artificial Intelligence and an MBA, which further enhances his strategic insights and innovative approach. Rahul holds a portfolio of Non-Executive and board advisory roles across a range of sectors, including housing, where he serves as a board member at LiveWest Homes, and health, where he is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the People & Digital Committee at NHS Surrey Integrated Care Board. Additionally, he provides board advisory services in the high-tech sector. Prior to this he was a Non-Executive Director at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, where he was Chair of the Finance, Investment and Development Committee and a Trustee of Change Grow Live, where he was Chair of the Research & Change Committee. He previously served as the Group Chief Information Officer at L&Q Group, Senior Vice President at Kuoni Group, Vice President at Universal Music Group, Director at GlobalNetFinancial.com and Enterprise Architect at the Financial Times.

Kathleen Harris-Leighton

Kathleen joined the Board in 2020.

Kathleen is a qualified Lecturer and Adult Literacy Specialist and currently works as a self employed Therapist, Life Coach and Trainer. 

She has previously served on a number of PA Housing groups and has performed a similar role at another social housing provider.
 
Kathleen is one of the first of two Resident Board Members appointed to our Board, to further enhance customer services. She is also a Member of the Finance, Risk & Audit Committee and the Investment Committee.

Kim Francis

Kim joined the Board in 2020 and sits on the Customer Committee and the People & Governance Committee. Kim is also the Safeguarding Board Lead.

Kim has a professional background in delivering and developing customer service strategies at a number of London's leading galleries, museums and heritage sites.

He is one of our residents and has sat on, and supported, a number of committees and forums providing a customer point of view. Kim is our Member Responsible for Complaints.