Our Board

Newlon Housing Trust is a charitable housing association and the Board is ultimately responsible for overseeing our governance.

Our approach is to encourage Board members to work actively on our behalf to promote our role as a provider of affordable housing and community initiatives in north and east London. To reflect this each member has a specialist area of responsibility so that the collective expertise of all members supports Newlon’s key areas of activity.

Newlon’s current Board members

Aman Dalvi
Chair of the Newlon Board
Aman was appointed as Chair of the Newlon Board in December 2020. He is also a member of the People and Governance Committee. He has worked at very senior levels for many years and has been a Chief Executive of three organisations, where he has led multi-disciplinary teams, including a London housing association. He has extensive experience of planning, regeneration and development. He was Executive Director of Development & Renewal at a London local authority, in addition to which he has worked for a house builder and a major real estate company. Aman was a ministerial appointment on the Boards of English Partnerships and the Olympic Park Legacy Company. He has also served as a Chair of a number of organisations which include the Anchor Trust and PA Housing. In 2000 he was awarded an OBE for services to housing. Declaration of interests Owner of Aman Dalvi Ltd. Chair of Aspire Housing. Chair of Goram Homes. Chair of Fairplace Homes Ltd. Chair of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation. Board member of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Annual remuneration: £21,403.40
Alison Muir
Newlon Board and Outward Board member
Alison joined the Newlon and Outward Board in January 2023. She is also a member of the Residents' Services Committee. She is an accomplished Non-Executive Director with a combination of local authority, private sector, G15 housing association and homelessness charity sector experience. As a driven, dynamic senior leader who builds and nurtures diverse organisations, Alison creates and deploys effective change strategies and engages with stakeholders at all levels. She is proactive, innovative and a commercially focused leader with highly developed interpersonal skills both at an executive and operational level. She also has an Executive MBA. Declarations of interest Advisory Board member of Connex Leadership Network. Chief Operating Officer of Octavia Housing Group. Annual remuneration: £6,976.85
Blossom Shakespeare
Newlon Board and Chair of Access Homes
Blossom has been a Newlon resident since 2012 and joined the Newlon Board in August 2019. She is Chair of Access Homes. She also sits on the Residents’ Services Committee and is a volunteer member of our Complaints Panel and Residents’ Forum. Blossom has worked for her local council for the last 11 years in a variety of roles, mainly relating to social care. She currently works as a Business Support Officer, where she supports their Fostering and Adoption Recruitment Process. She is also a Deacon for her local Baptist Church. Blossom Shakespeare is our member responsible for complaints (MRC). Blossom is on the Newlon Board. It is her responsibility for complaints to support a positive complaint handling culture. Declaration of interest Chair of Access Homes Housing Association Limited. Annual Remuneration: £8,561.42
Chris Cheshire
Newlon Board and Chair of Development Committee
Chris Joined the Board in July 2021 and is Chair of the Development Committee and a member of the Residents' Services Committee. He has over 24 years experience as a board member and committee chair for several organisations. His board roles fulfilled positions in development, asset management and DLO management as a specialist, and he has also covered risk and audit committee roles and chair of customer services. He has a broad range of board skills and a high-level knowledge of housing and finance issues and has been directly involved in supporting mergers for a number of registered providers and worked on two boards to help them improve their grading. Declaration of interests Beneficial interest in Gunner Cocktails. Board member of Eastlight Community Homes. Chair of Watford Community Housing. Director of Laker BMS Ltd. Partnership with Safe and Found Online Ltd. Partnership with I3itech Ltd. Annual remuneration: £8,561.42
Ed Ihejirika
Newlon Board and member of Development Committee and Group Audit & Risk Committee
Ed joined the Newlon Board in December 2020. He is a member of the Group and Audit Risk Committee and the Development Committee. He is a strong advocate for community development, and places emphasis on learning, empowerment, diversity, and inclusion for achieving equality and social cohesion. He is an architect and development consultant with over 25 years post qualification experience in practice, architectural education, programme management and corporate facilities strategy. He established dcuk in 2009 to work closely with clients on bespoke architectural assignments. As well as running the practice, he teaches on the Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture course at the University of Westminster, and is a member of the Green Register of construction professionals who seek to build more sustainably. He is a contributor to the book ‘White Papers Black Marks’, edited by Lesley Lokko. Ed presently chairs the trustee board of the Selby Trust, a Tottenham based community development charity. Declaration of interests Chair of Selby Trust. Annual remuneration: £6,976.85
Jane Everton
Newlon Board and Chair of Outward
Jane joined us as a Newlon Board member and Chair of Outward, our care and support partner organisation, in September 2022. Jane is also part of the People and Governance Committee. Jane is a former senior civil servant with 38 years of public sector experience and principal interests in social policy and housing, particularly in homelessness and supported housing. As a recognised national leader in housing, planning and social policy, she has a track record of delivering complex national policy, legislation and major corporate change. Most recently Jane served as Deputy Director for the Social Housing Department for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government where she helped to deliver the Social Housing White and Green Papers, a key element of the Government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy, working with residents in social housing around the country. Jane was awarded a CBE for public service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2015. Declaration of interests Board member of Northern Housing Consortium. Annual Remuneration: £8,561.42
John Cross
Newlon Board and Chair of the People and Governance Committee
John Cross joined the Newlon Board in August 2016 and is Chair of the People and Governance Committee. He is also on the Development Committee. He has extensive senior level experience leading on the development of new affordable homes and has worked as Chief Executive for a number of organisations including bpha. He is also a member of the Board at Paradigm Housing. He previously served as Chair of the National Housing Federation for three years. Declaration of interest N/A Annual remuneration: £8,561.42
Keith McLeod
Newlon Board, Access Board and Chair of Group Audit & Risk Committee
Keith joined the Newlon Board in December 2023. He is the chair of the Group Audit and Risk Committee and he is also part of the Access Board. He is a qualified Accountant, and an experienced Non-Executive Director who has specialised in the financial services industry for the majority of his career. Prior to his retirement from full time employment, Keith was a Chief Finance Officer, Board member and regulated person in the UK Banking sector for 12 years. Keith is currently a Non-Executive Director of Mansfield Building Society, and Lymphoma Action – a national Cancer Charity. He brings expertise in risk management, financial reporting and strategic leadership to the Newlon Board, and is keen to utilise his expertise for the benefit of others. Declarations of interest Mansfield Building Society and Lymphoma Action. Annual Remuneration: £8,561.42
Lloyd Gale-Ward
Newlon Board, Chair of the Newlon Fusion Board and Chair of the Residents’ Forum
Lloyd has been a Newlon resident since 2013 and joined the Newlon Board in August 2019. He is Chair of the Newlon Fusion Board, Chair of the Residents’ Forum and a member of the Residents’ Services Committee. He has worked for the College of Policing for the last 8 years in a variety of roles and has previously worked for The Royal Parks and Cabinet Office. Lloyd is also the Founder of the Isobel Place Residents' Association. Declaration of interests Chair of Newlon Fusion. Annual Remuneration: £8,561.42
Mike Hinch
Newlon Board member and Group Chief Executive
Mike joined Newlon in 1993 as Finance Director and became Chief Executive in 1999. Before joining Newlon Mike held senior positions in housing and local government. He is a qualified accountant and has an MBA. He is a member of the Development Committee and the NewlonBuild Board. Mike has been a Board member of several other housing associations. Declaration of interests Trustee of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. NewlonBuild Board member.
Peter Cogan
Newlon Board and Chair of the Resident Services Committee
Peter joined the Newlon Board in January 2023 as Chair of the Resident Services Committee. He is also a member of the Access Homes Board and the Group Audit and Risk Committee. His expertise lies in identifying customer needs and implementing strategies to deliver them. He has a wealth of experience to draw upon, from roles in a range of key service industries in the UK, Ireland and abroad, including the housing industry. Peter has held many director level roles, including the Executive Director of Customer Service at the Richmond Housing Partnership Group and interim Director of Customer Operations at Optivo, focusing on improving operational performance and rebuilding colleague engagement. His current role is Group Customer Services Director at Watford Community Housing. Declarations of interest Board member of Access Homes. Executive director at Watford Community Housing. Annual Remuneration:£8,561.42

Declaration of interests

Board members are required to declare any interests that impact on their involvement with Newlon, to support transparency.

The current interests are listed below:

Advisory Board member of Connex Leadership Networks
Beneficial interest in Gunner Cocktails
Board member of Access Homes
Board member of Chelsea and Westminster and Imperial Hospital
Board member of Eastlight Community Homes
Board member NewlonBuild
Board member of Northern Housing Consortium
Chair of Access Housing Association
Chair of Aspire Housing
Chair of Goram Homes Limited
Chair of Fairplace Homes Ltd
Chair of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation
Chair of Newlon Fusion
Chair of Selby Trust
Chair of Watford Community Housing
Chief Operating Officer at Octavia Housing Group.
Director Laker BMS Ltd
Executive director at Watford Community Housing
Non-Executive Director of Mansfield Building Society
Non-Executive Director of Lymphoma Action
Owner of Aman Dalvi Ltd
Partnership with Safe and Found Online Ltd
Partnership with I3itech Ltd
Trustee of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation

If you have any enquiries about our register please contact our Company Secretary by calling 020 7613 8000.

Our shareholders

To find out more about our shareholders, please see shareholding membership policy.

Shareholding membership policy