Weaver Vale Housing Trust (WVHT) has announced that its Chair of the Board, Paul Smith, will step down from the role after seven years of significant transformation and progress for the Trust.

With over 50 years of experience working in the local authority and housing association sectors, Paul has played a key role in shaping WVHT’s governance and strategic growth.

During his time as Chair, WVHT became one of the first housing associations to achieve the highest possible regulatory gradings of C1, V1 and G1, reflecting excellence across consumer standards, financial viability and governance. This was matched by its strongest ever performance against Tenant Satisfaction Measures and best-ever customer satisfaction results in its tenant survey, demonstrating a long-standing commitment to customer satisfaction and continuous investment in homes, neighbourhoods and services.

Paul has played a pivotal role in shaping the Trust’s growth and development agenda, overseeing the delivery of more than 500 new homes and transfers into the Trust, plus helping to establish an ambitious pipeline for future expansion with plans to grow by an additional 1,100 in the next 10 years.

Additionally, Paul oversaw the Trust’s drive toward embedding customer lived and living experience across the Trust through its Customer Feedback Framework. This has helped build an open culture of accountability, inclusion and continuous improvement, ensuring the Trust maintains its ethos as a people-focused, place-based landlord with a clear commitment to customers and communities.

A key achievement during Paul’s tenure was the development of the Customer Assurance Team, which gives customers another way to scrutinise performance and shape services. This has helped further embed customer influence into the way the Trust makes decisions and ensure customer voice is threaded throughout the governance structure at the Trust at every level.

“Looking back over the past seven years, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together, from responding to the impact of the pandemic to achieving our strong regulatory outcomes,” said Paul.

“Seeing customer influence become embedded in the way we make decisions is something I’m delighted to have been part of. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our colleagues, partners, engaged customers and Board members, and I’m incredibly grateful for their support over the years.

“It’s been a privilege to be part of this journey, and I look forward to seeing the Trust continue to grow and build on what we’ve already achieved together.”

Kieran Timmins, Deputy Chair at WVHT, has been appointed Chair Designate and will work closely with Paul during the transition period.

Kieran said:

“I’m excited to take on the role of Chair and to have the opportunity to support the Trust as it moves into its next chapter. Paul leaves behind a strong legacy, and I’m looking forward to building on the excellent progress that’s been made over the years.

“As we develop our new Corporate Plan, my focus will be on sustainable growth, service excellence and improving our use of technology, continued investment in homes and communities – all while ensuring customers remain at the heart of everything we do.”

Wayne Gales, Chief Executive of Weaver Vale Housing Trust, said:

“Paul has made outstanding contributions to the Trust during his time as Chair, providing steady guidance, a steadfast commitment to ensuring the voice of the customer is always heard and considered, and helping us to deliver sustained growth and a culture that places people at the centre of our work and recognised as our greatest asset.

“His leadership has helped see us through challenging periods and achieve some of our greatest successes so far. We’d like to thank him for his commitment to our customers and colleagues, and we wish him all the best in his retirement.

“We’re also pleased to welcome Kieran as our Chair Designate. He already brings a wealth of experience and valuable insight and strategic support as Deputy Chair, and we know he’ll continue to provide strong leadership, helping us deliver on our ambitions and ensuring customers remain at the heart of our decisions and plans.”

Building on its strong foundations, the Trust is currently developing its new Corporate Plan, which will set out its direction over the next three years as it continues to deliver homes and services that positively impact customers and communities.