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Housing association appoints new chief executive following fire safety failings

A housing association which was criticised by the regulator for serious fire safety failings has appointed a new chief executive.

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Leann Hearne
Leann Hearne
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Housing association appoints new chief executive following fire safety failings #ukhousing

Leann Hearne, who is currently executive director of shared services and business transformation at Riverside, will take over at First Ark Group in November.

The group includes 14,000-home landlord Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT), which had its grading placed under review by the Regulator for Social Housing last month for unsolved fire safety issues which “potentially affected hundreds of tenants for a number of months”.

Ms Hearne will replace Ian Munro, who is currently in post as interim chief executive.

The organisation’s previous chief executive, Bob Taylor, is retiring after 14 years. He announced his intention to retire “at the end of 2018” in March – but is understood to have stepped down in late May.


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First Ark said Ms Hearne will work with Mr Munro, “the executive team and board members ahead of her officially starting with the group”.

Ms Hearne said: “The First Ark Group is a progressive organisation and I am proud to have the opportunity to drive it forward, together with the team. Providing affordable and accessible housing for our tenants, while delivering first-class customer service, is our main focus and I cannot wait to get started.”

First Ark said Ms Hearne “has strong experience of oversight of compliance requirements in high-risk environments” that will help KHT Trust “in overcoming the challenges it has faced regarding compliance with regulatory standards”.

She was part of the team which led Riverside through an in-depth assessment from the regulator which saw it maintain a G1/V1 rating – the highest possible score.

Before joining Riverside in 2012, Ms Hearne was director of operations at The Extracare Charitable Trust.

Peter Roberts, chair at First Ark Group, said: “Leann will bring with her a wealth of experience to ensure we can continue to put our customers at the heart of our services and continue our mission to change people’s lives.”

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