Ask the experts

Mark Henderson, Chief Executive
Mark has 30 years’ experience in regeneration and business support and is passionate about placing customers at the heart of everything we do. He has worked at chief executive level across local authorities, regional development agencies and housing.

Specialisms: Mark can talk across all housing related issues.

Rachael Byrne, Executive Director of Models of Care
Rachael has 25 years’ experience in supported housing and an absolute passion for what it takes to support customers at all levels. She has overall responsibility for over 600 supported housing projects nationwide.

Specialism: Complex care, learning disabilities, mental health, extra care, ageing, integrating housing and social care, complex needs, older people.

Will Gardner, Executive Director of Asset and Development
Will is passionate about quality design and has been instrumental in delivering some amazing developments for Home Group. He has been delivering regeneration in London and the south for more than 15 years.

Specialisms: Development, planning, leasehold, regeneration, sales

Nusheen Hussain, Executive Director, Customers and Communities.
Nusheen handles everything relating to customers and communities at Home Group. Previously, Nusheen was Executive Director of Business Development within the organisation so brings a wealth of experience and depth to the role.

Specialisms: Customer promise, customer engagement, housing and communities, housing and support, operations, leasehold, Home Group Scotland.

Helen Meehan, Chief Financial Officer
Helen has worked in finance for a number of top firms, including PwC. She joined Home group in 2015 as Director of Risk and Assurance and has quickly risen up the ranks.

Specialisms: Finance, risk, assurance, treasury, investor relations, financial planning and analysis, auditing, legal.

Paul Walker, Executive Director of Repairs and Maintenance
Paul has a wealth of experience in senior management across the energy, public transport and social housing sectors. Paul's focus is on the delivery of consistent and reliable customer experience and providing operational excellence.

Specialisms: Responsive repairs, void properties, planned maintenance/asset investment, delivery, safety and compliance.

Rachael Byrne, Executive Director of Models of Care
Rachael has 25 years’ experience in supported housing and an absolute passion for what it takes to support customers at all levels. She has overall responsibility for over 600 supported housing projects nationwide.

Specialism: Complex care, learning disabilities, mental health, extra care, ageing, integrating housing and social care, complex needs, older people.

Lindsay Courtney, head of clinical practice
Lindsay is determined to deliver innovative solutions to complex health and social care needs. She works to promote independence through rehabilitation and reablement and to embed assistive technology in service design. Lindsay is a qualified and registered occupational therapist and was a university lecturer for several years.

Specialisms: Extra care, community wellbeing, aging, frailty, older people, complex needs, occupational therapy, dementia, assistive technology, reablement, rehabilitation and social care.

Jenny Mace, strategic lead for service design and practice
Jenny has 30 years’ of experience in social care, including youth work, criminal justice, homelessness and mental health, and has a particular passion for addressing health inequalities in society. She designs and develops Home Group’s specialist services and support practice model.

Specialisms: Learning disabilities, mental health, social care, health equality

Victoria Darcy, clinical expert in occupational therapy
Victoria is an occupational therapist who has worked in the public and private sectors. Her clinical practice has included working with older adults with cognitive impairments. As well as leading a community intensive mental health service, she has commissioned a range of service users with complex needs. Victoria's also passionate about promoting increased wellbeing through occupational science.

Specialisms: Occupational therapy, occupational science, older adults, organic impairment, mental health, ASD, complex needs.

Lesley Bainbridge, clinical expert in physical health
Lesley is a nurse and midwife and has spent her career specialising in the care of older people. She is passionate about ensuring that those with complex needs can enjoy the best quality of life possible. She has worked in both provider and commissioning services and is committed to embedding evidence, evaluation, data and research. Lesley has built a national profile as a nurse and specialist in older people’s care.

Specialisms: Whole person care, whole system care, frailty, complex needs, evidence and evaluation.

Emma Burtenshaw, clinical expert in positive behavioural support
Emma is a board-certified behaviour analyst who has worked primarily with adults with complex needs and individuals within the complex care pathway. She has worked in behavioural support roles across the public and private sectors within adults’ health and social care, focusing on adults with learning disabilities and autism who display severe behaviour that challenges them. Emma is particularly passionate about the reduction of restrictive practices, human rights approaches, and the ethical application of applied behaviour analysis.

Specialisms: Complex care, applied behaviour analysis, restrictive practice reduction, behaviour that challenges, learning disability, autism.

Heather Rice, clinical expert in psychology
Heather is a Registered Psychologist with the Health Care Professions Council, Chartered Psychologist, Scientist and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society, and Associate Member of the Division of Forensic Psychology. She’s worked in secure and non-secure settings with many customers. These customers include perpetrators and victims of offending, adults, children, and young people. Heather also worked with victims of domestic abuse and homicide. Also specialising in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mindfulness, and compassion-based therapy. Heather has also co-written and delivered reflective practice workshops to support staff during and post Covid.

Specialisms: Psychologically Informed Environments; offending behaviour; interpersonal and family violence (children, young people and adults); substance misuse; risk assessment and management; attachment; strengths-based approach.

Will Gardner, Executive Director of Asset and Development
Will is passionate about quality design and has been instrumental in delivering some amazing developments for Home Group. He has been delivering regeneration in London and the south for more than 15 years.

Specialisms: Development, planning, leasehold, regeneration, sales.

Maggie Gjessing, director of regeneration
Maggie is experienced in housing management, development and housing-led regeneration, gained in local authorities, housing associations and with third sector supported housing providers. She handles delivering the regeneration programme and supporting our New Models of Care business, also to several directorate wide functions. These include the design, programmes and procurement teams.

Specialisms: regeneration, affordable housing development, supported housing, community wellbeing and social impact.

Paul Walker, Executive Director of Repairs and Maintenance
Paul has 20 years business experience across the utilities, public transport and social housing sectors. Having successfully developed and led large operational teams, including RWE Npower’s domestic care and maintenance teams, Paul took up his current role in March 2019. He is responsible for all property maintenance, including responsive repairs, delivery of planned maintenance programmes, turnaround of void properties, ensuring components are safe and compliant, and Home Group’s customer service centre.

Specialisms: operational change and excellence, property maintenance, customer experience and engagement, safety and statutory compliance.

Audrey Simpson, director of Scotland
Audrey leads a team which supports over 15,000 customers across Scotland in around 5,000 homes. She has more than 25 years’ of experience in the social housing sector in Scotland. She has worked in various roles within several housing associations in Scotland.

Stuart Dixon, head of development and delivery in Scotland
Stuart heads up the Development Team in Scotland, which identifies and delivers new development opportunities in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee. He has built strong relationships local authorities, Scottish Government and private sector partners to enable Home Group in Scotland to build in excess of 1,000 new homes. Previously Stuart worked at Glasgow City Council as Assistant Chief Housing Officer.

Specialisms: Area renewal, development and delivery of mixed tenure developments, liaison with local authorities and Scottish Government, community regeneration initiatives.

Karen Wolstencroft , head of service delivery in Scotland
Having studied Social Policy at University, Karen has worked in social housing since 1994. She began her career as a Housing Management Trainee for Dundee City Council and has specialised in Housing Management. She continued to work in this area of housing when she moved to Home Group over 13 years ago and now supports colleagues across Scotland to deliver an excellent service to social rent, mid-market rent and factored customers.

Specialisms: Knowledge of Scottish regulatory and legislative requirements.

Susan Fulton, director of people
Susan has operational and human resources experience within the private and public sectors in the UK and Europe. Susan has worked in financial services, leading in contact centres and covering all aspects of the colleague experience. Susan is accountable for human resources.

Specialisms: Training and development, talent management, diversity and inclusion, change leadership, culture and values, performance management, reward and recognition, colleague engagement, wellbeing, apprenticeships.