Who leads Origin

Neil joined as Chair in September 2018. He has worked for the Clarion group and it’s predecessor organisations for 23 years and currently has overall responsibility for the delivery of landlord services; asset management/investment; customer services; housing management and resident involvement across 125,000 properties.

Previously Neil has been a non-executive director of Richmond Housing Partnership and MENCAP’s housing subsidiary, Golden Lane Housing, which he also chaired.  Neil is also currently a non-executive director of Reside Housing Association.

Neil is a Chartered Director, fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and holds the Institute of Directors Certificate in Corporate Governance.

Bryan is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years' experience, predominantly in the public and not-for-profit sectors.  As a director with the National Audit Office he provided assurance to Parliament on the activities of a  number of government bodies, most notably the financial services regulatory bodies and other government owned companies. 

He now has a range of independent and non-executive roles in the health, education, housing and local government sectors.  He joined Origin Board in March 2017 and is a member of the Audit & Risk Committee.

Carol Carter joined Origin as Chief Executive in April 2017.  She has over 30 years' experience in a wide range of roles and organisations across the housing sector with a track record of success in driving organisational change and delivering high-quality customer services; effective and efficient housing and property management and community investment; ensuring value for money and building strong external partnerships.  Prior to joining Origin, Carol was Group Director of Housing for six years at Hyde with responsibility for managing 50,000 homes.  Previously she worked for a range of housing associations, inner London and rural local authorities, as well as a three year period in consultancy, including experience at Savills. 

Carol holds a degree in Social Science and the Professional Qualification of the Institute of Housing.

Gareth is a qualified Building Surveyor with over 25 years’ experience in residential development work. He previously worked for PCHA in a range of development roles including Regional Development Manager and Head of Land & New Business, and at Genesis Housing Association, where he held the post of Assistant Director of Development before joining Origin as Development Director in early 2006. 

Gloria joined us in December 2018 from Clarion Housing Group, where she has been working as a consultant advising on system implementation and integration following the merger of Affinity Sutton and Circle Housing.  Prior to that, Gloria was the Director of Finance for East Thames Housing Group, a G15 member, where she was responsible for the core finance functions and led the Finance transformation programme and previously worked in a range of roles for Wandle Housing Association, Metropolitan Housing Partnership and Affinity Sutton Group. Gloria is currently an independent member of the Audit Committee for Phoenix Community Housing, the first resident-led housing association in London and she is a Fellow member of ACCA. 

Cornelius McGrath, an experienced change management specialist joined the Executive team on 28 May as interim Director of Change for an estimated six to nine months. He will be providing support and guidance to the Origin 2020 Change Board and working with colleagues across the business to  help ensure we are on track to achieve our goals.  His career spans over 30 years during which he has worked with a number of organisations, in the private and not-for-profit sectors, to successfully deliver change which enhances the customer experience and improves business performance.

Bob is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience in senior financial and general management roles including Finance Director of a FTSE 250 property company. He was also a Non-Executive director of Milton Keynes University Hospital.

Currently he is a Non-Executive director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust and Chairman of Milton Keynes Development Partnership, the property development and place making arm of Milton Keynes Council.

Mash is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with 20 years’ experience, the last 10 years in both the private and affordable housing sectors. Since 2006 he has been an Equity Partner at John Rowan and partners, and Head of Residential Development and Regeneration. He is responsible for the development and successful delivery of new-build residential schemes, delivering over 500 brand new homes per year. At main board level he is Deputy Chairman with responsibilities including implementing key business initiatives, new business innovations and reviewing the strategic direction of the business. Mash joined Origin Board in March 2014. 

Stephen is an experienced housing professional, having undertaken senior leadership roles in two prominent housing organisations. He has previously worked at the political centre of two London local authorities, as well as at the House of Commons. Stephen lives in East London and is an Origin leaseholder. He joined the Board in April 2015.

Gordon is a senior finance executive with particular experience in the SME and Mid-Market sectors covering a range of industries including residential and commercial property development. In his last executive role he was the CEO of a financial services business regulated by the FCA. He is a chartered accountant by profession and was previously the Finance Director of a listed company engaged in residential property development primarily in London and the South East. He was later appointed a Non-Executive Director in that company serving on both the Audit and Remuneration Committees during this time.  He joined Origin Board in December 2015 and became Chair of Origin’s Audit Committee in 2016.

Julia Porter is an experienced advisor, mentor and board director. Her non-executive career includes the Boards of DMA (as Chair and as architect of the revised DMA Code of Practice), Safestyle plc (replacement windows) and Freeview (UK’s largest free to air digital TV platform). Her consulting roles includes accessible practitioner led GDPR advice plus strategic advice for business starts ups as well as marketing and CRM/data strategy consulting. Her executive experience includes stints at Guardian News & Media, Getty Images, ITV and IPC Magazines. At the Guardian she was responsible for the Award winning campaign "Why Your Data Matters". She holds an MBA from London Business School.

Chris is a Chartered Surveyor with over 30 years' experience of developing and managing property in the public and private sector.  He has developed, let and sold over seven million sq ft of commercial and residential property in ​England, Scotland and Wales, and been a Director of a national contractor developer, family-owned property /  venture capital company and various financial and infrastructure joint ventures.  Since 2012 he has been a property consultant working with public and private sector clients and joined the Origin Board in March 2017.  He is also Chair of Origin Investment Committee.

Vicky is an experienced housing professional and is the Director of Housing at Clarion Housing Association.  She has responsibility for housing management, resident involvement, allocations, supported housing and clienting the repairs service across 125,000 properties.  She is particularly interested in how to drive improvements in resident satisfaction throughout the whole organisation.

Vicky has over 25 years’ experience in the housing sector and began her career in housing by studying for an MSc in Housing and Social Policy at the LSE.

Olivia has enjoyed a varied career as a chartered marketer, accredited PR professional, and more recently in people and culture roles, including leadership development and executive coaching. She currently runs a consultancy focused on strategy and culture. Her experience includes a number of global executive positions, board membership and audit and risk chair for a global not-for-profit, and being a school governor. Olivia joined the Board in April 2018.

Argiri has held a number of senior roles in housing and local government and is currently the Executive Director of Corporate Services and Company Secretary for the Salvation Army Housing Association.  She leads the suite of corporate services including the People, Business Assurance, IT and Business Transformation teams and her remit also includes corporate governance.

Argiri joined the Origin Board in October 2019, is a member of Audit and Risk Committee and is also on the NHF’s Board Excellence Advisory Group.