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G15 member appoints new chief financial officer
Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) has appointed a Network Rail director as its new chief financial officer.
Yomi Okunola, who has held senior roles at a number of development and real estate firms, will replace Paul Phillips who is stepping down after 17 years at NHG.
Mr Okunola joins NHG from Network Rail, where he has served as capital finance director for the Southern region since 2015.
Prior to that, he was UK finance director at Greystar and IVG UK, the former owner of the Gherkin building in London, which are both developers and managers of real estate.
He has also held a variety of senior finance and strategic roles at UBS, Patron Capital and mixed-use developer Argent.
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Mr Okunola is chair of a registered charity that promotes Christian education and the alleviation of poverty.
He will take up his new role at NHG at the end of this month.
Explaining why he has chosen to join the housing sector, Mr Okunola said: “It’s a natural evolution for me, bringing together my passion for helping people – I set up a small registered charity in 2009 – and a deep-rooted interest in property development.
“I was impressed by the professional team here, the leadership in the wake of recent challenges, the scale of operations and the organisation’s history. It is an impressive and ambitious housing association to which I can apply my skillset and help the team achieve our goals.
“I’m looking forward to working with Kate, the board, executive board and my team, who are very well regarded in the sector.
“There are a lot of challenges we face, obviously fire safety and cladding, but also getting the balance right between effective asset management and development strategy, improving our resident satisfaction, maintaining a healthy pipeline of affordable new homes and tackling the climate emergency.”
Kate Davies, chief executive of NHG, said: “Yomi was the outstanding candidate in a very competitive field and we look forward to welcoming him to the organisation.
“He has huge shoes to fill as Paul has been a tremendous chief financial officer for us and is admired across the sector, but we have every confidence in him.
“His commitment to improving the lives of those living in poverty and recognition of the vital part housing associations play in providing the homes London so desperately needs fits in perfectly with our ethos and plans for the future. He will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience and will be a very welcome addition.”
London-based NHG owns and manages around 66,000 homes. It has a G1/V2 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing.
