THFC comprises a diverse team of recognised industry experts.
Members of the Board include:
George Blunden
Chair
Guy Thomas
Chair of Audit and Risk Committee
Shirley Smith
Senior Independent Director
Scott Bottles
Chair of Credit Committee
Tony King
Chair of Remuneration and Nominations Committee
David Montague
Fiona MacGregor
Regulator of Social Housing Nominee Director
Gail Teasdale
National Housing Federation Nominee Director
Priya Nair
Chief Executive
Ben Rick
Chief Finance Officer
Martin Fent
Chief Risk and Operations Officer and Company Secretary
Priya Nair
Chief Executive
Lindsay Ahrens
Senior Director of Strategy
Will Stevenson
Group Treasurer
Elisiah Bongou
Treasury Analyst
Gavin Richards
Head of Relationship Management
Sharon Woodward
Relationship Manager
Max Watson
Relationship Manager
Hedley Hadfield
Relationship Manager
Melissa Gheerawo Skilbeck
Head of Loan Security
Isabel Jiménez-Sinclair
Loan Security Analyst
Martin Fent
Chief Risk and Operations Officer and Company Secretary
Andrew Lynch
Head of Credit Risk
Harriette Guthrie
Credit and Portfolio Risk Analyst
Joshua Falleiro
Credit and Risk Support Officer
Ben Rick
Chief Finance Officer
Ian Lloyd
Head of Finance
Steven Dighton-Brown
Management Accountant
Satindra Rana
Finance Assistant
Madalena Lukau
Accounts Assistant
Nayeem Chowdhury
Finance Administrator
Natasha Griffin
Senior Director of People
Rob Fox
People & Talent Transformation Consultant
Olivia Collins
Office Services Coordinator
Kelly Lee
Head of Governance and Compliance
Jinfei Dong
Senior Company Secretarial Assistant
Kartik Mistry
Head of IT
Corin Breckon
IT Support Analyst
John Hargreaves
Managing Director
Chris Mansfield
Managing Consultant
Sharron Preston
Practice Manager
THFC is a CPD accredited employer with the ACT
Lindsay Ahrens
Senior Director of Strategy
Lindsay joined THFC in December 2024 as Senior Director of Strategy. She is responsible for communications, marketing and brand, data analytics and supports the execution of strategic initiatives. Lindsay has a decade of experience in private markets and FinTech, both in the United Kingdom and United States. Prior to joining THFC, Lindsay was Principal Institutional Solutions Consultant at Juniper Square, a leading private markets technology firm based in San Francisco, California. At Juniper Square, Lindsay partnered with institutional private capital fund managers to advise them on best-in-class, technology-enabled operating models.
She began her career at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in London. At RBC, Lindsay held roles in marketing, technology strategy and product management. She spent the majority of her RBC tenure on the global private markets team.
Lindsay holds a Master of Arts (Hons) in Economics and Modern History from the University of St Andrews.
Martin Fent
Chief Risk and Operations Officer and Company Secretary
Martin Fent joined THFC in January 2025 as CROO. Prior to joining THFC Martin held Chief Risk Officer roles at RBS International and latterly Cynergy Bank. Martin’s banking career has covered the UK and international lending across a variety of lending classes including structured finance, corporate lending, RMBS and property finance. Focusing on capital management, his risk leadership roles have included leading Natwest’s Restructuring team and London and South East Portfolio Management Division. He is passionate about building strong risk frameworks that can be applied practically and commercially and working with colleagues, board members and regulators to build a sustainable, transparent and healthy risk culture.
Kelly Lee
Head of Governance and Compliance
Chris Mansfield
Managing Consultant
Chris has worked as Managing Consultant for HRS since 2004. He looks after a number of our clients, as well as researching and writing all of our publications for members. He developed an app to give members easy access to our sector risk data, including the best practice controls, which he updates on the basis of the advice given in each HRS Review, among other sources.
Chris developed the Credit Assessment Model used by HRS to evaluate the balance between risk exposure and risk capacity in the financial plans of our customers. He also supports a software tool to enable clients to document their key risks, their underlying drivers, the arrangements in place to manage them, and assurance that these controls are in place and effective.
Sharron Preston
Practice Manager
Sharron joined HRS as Office Manager in 2012 to support both the Managing Director and Managing Consultant. With her keen focus on building long-term client relationships, she plays an essential role in ensuring our consultancy services are delivered efficiently and meet client deadlines.
Sharron also oversees membership subscriptions and renewals, coordinates client meetings, and manages the distribution of key HRS publications, such as the HRS Review, Horizons, and Scenarios.
Before joining HRS, Sharron served as Office Manager and PA at the NIHR Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre at King’s College London. She has also gained experience through her work within fintech, visual media, stock imagery, and newspaper publishing.
John Hargreaves
Managing Director
John Hargreaves has been Managing Director of Hargreaves Risk and Strategy (HRS) since 1996. His previous experience was in finance and planning, having been Financial Controller of National Freight (Now DHL), Head of Group Financial Systems and a member of the scenarios team at Shell, Finance Director at London Underground, and Corporate Finance Director (Planning) at Barclays Bank. Between 1990 and 2007, he also ran an MSc level Strategic Management course at London School of Economics. John is a Chartered Accountant with a mathematics degree from Cambridge University.
John’s main current interest is in increasing the impact of good risk management in the housing association sector by improving the relationship between associations’ risk management and their strategy development. He believes that associations’ impact can be maximised by ensuring that they always maintain an appropriate balance between the risk they are taking and their capacity to take risk safely.
Kartik Mistry
Head of IT
I began my career in the housing sector as the IT Team Lead at the National Housing Federation, where I spent 15 years. During my tenure, I advanced to the role of IT Infrastructure Manager, acquiring extensive experience, knowledge, and skills. I was responsible for managing and supporting a multi-site infrastructure, guiding the organization in enhancing and strategically transitioning from an on-premise environment to a hybrid cloud setup.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, I moved on to work at United Trust Bank, where I assisted in their cloud journey, helping users adopt Microsoft Office 365 solutions like Teams, OneDrive, and Outlook online. Prior to my time at THFC, I worked as a Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer at Haysmacintyre, one of the top 20 accountancy firms, where I was actively involved in shaping and improving their technology stack.
As you can see, while I moved from the housing sector, I have remained within the finance industry, gaining diverse experience across various environments. With my skills and background, I am now equipped to help organisations like THFC strategically advance their technology and effectively manage their IT infrastructure and cloud systems.
Olivia Collins
Office Services Coordinator
Ben Rick
Chief Finance Officer
Ben joined THFC in November 2024 as CFO. He grew up in London and earned a First-Class BSc (Hons) degree in Management Science from UMIST in Manchester. Ben began his career in 1993 at Goldman Sachs in Treasury Operations, later moving to credit trading at Lehman Brothers and UBS, where he co-led the corporate bond team.
In 2002, Ben transitioned to the buy side as a Portfolio Manager at Green-T Asset Management, followed by a role as Managing Director of Merrill Lynch’s EMEA Global Proprietary Trading Group. After a stint as a partner at hedge fund BTG Pactual, Ben shifted his focus to UK social investment, co-founding Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) in 2012. Under his leadership as CEO, SASC became a leading finance provider for charities and social enterprises, ultimately specialising in lending to social and supported housing providers.
In 2023, Ben stepped down as SASC CEO to work with larger capital pools in the UK social housing sector. Before joining THFC, he advised Lloyds Bank on social housing projects, focusing on expanding lending to supported housing providers. Ben remains on the Board of SASC and volunteers as an advisor to Crisis, supporting their housing supply strategy, and Homewards, the Royal Foundation’s homelessness initiative.
Jinfei Dong
Senior Company Secretarial Assistant
Jinfei joined THFC in September 2024. She has around five years of experience supporting in-house company secretariats and continues to pursue her chartership from the Corporate Governance Institute. She began her training as a Company Secretarial Assistant at Aviva and subsequently undertook roles as Assistant Company Secretary at Arch Insurance, a Lloyd’s of London insurer, and Senior Company Secretarial Assistant at Close Brothers, a leading UK merchant bank.
Rob Fox
People & Talent Transformation Consultant
Rob joined THFC in 2024, bringing over 20 years of expertise in Talent Management and Change Projects. He has a proven track record in building teams and implementing scalable processes, with a strong focus on developing best practices for attracting, sourcing, assessing, and selecting top talent. Rob has led teams within recruitment, HR operations, and across the broader business, driving significant improvements in candidate experience and enhancing the overall quality of hiring. His experience spans EMEA, India, North America, and APAC, positioning him as a global leader in talent development and team leadership.
Hedley Hadfield
Relationship Manager
Hedley joined THFC in August 2024 as a Relationship Manager. Prior to joining THFC he worked at NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland for 33 years. Hedley has over 25 years of experience providing debt funding solutions to the social housing sector. During his time working in partnership with the sector, Hedley has experienced a broad range of social housing providers ranging from small, community based associations to national providers. Hedley will now focus on supporting THFC’s customers across England and Wales.
Joshua Falleiro
Credit and Risk Support Officer
Joshua joined THFC’s Credit and Risk team in May 2024 after working as a Credit Risk Reporting Analyst at UBS. He holds a 1st class degree in Economics from Loughborough University and previously spent a year as a self-employed online maths tutor, stationed all over the world. Joshua intends to pursue a CFA qualification in the future.
Priya Nair
Chief Executive
Priya Nair is Chief Executive of The Housing Finance Corporation, the UK’s leading affordable housing aggregator.
A senior executive with over 25 years’ experience in financial services, infrastructure and housing, Priya is passionate about leveraging sustainable, long-term investment to help deliver positive economic and societal outcomes in the affordable housing sector.
Before joining in March 2024, Priya was a Senior Director at abrdn, the global investment company, in its infrastructure team in London, UK. With a focus on infrastructure and housing, Priya was responsible for financing, capital raising and deal strategy across all its flagship infrastructure funds and investments. Prior to that, Priya spent over 13 years at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in their global private markets team. Her work at RBC included advising on capital markets issuance for THFC and other housing providers. She also previously worked at Citi and started her career at Deutsche Bank as a graduate in their investment banking/global markets programme.
In addition to leading THFC, Priya acts as a senior advisor to organisations working across government, infrastructure and technology where she provides counsel on corporate finance, governance, risk management and investment strategies. She is a Non-Executive Director and the Chair of the Investment Committee at the Port of London Authority and a Senior Adviser to Good Governance Capital.
Priya also supports several non-profit organisations and charities with a focus on sport and education. She is currently a Senior Trustee of community sports charity, Sported, the UK’s largest network of community groups supporting half a million young people through the power of sport.
Priya was born in India, lived in Quebec, Canada from the age of five to 12 and then Ireland until her early 20s. She has lived in London since the late 1990s. Her international cultural background gives her a unique perspective that informs her work and vision at THFC.
Natasha Griffin
Senior Director of People
Natasha Griffin joined THFC in 2024 and is the aggregator’s first Director of People and Culture. She has over 20 years of experience in global HR Management across many industries and regions, including Technology, Telecommunications, Entertainment, Private Healthcare, and Event Planning and in both Europe and China. She is also well versed in HR automation and digitisation, contributing to the modernisation and efficiency of an HR function.
Nayeem Chowdhury
Finance Administrator
Nayeem joined THFC in January 2024 as a Finance Administrator. He holds a degree in Mathematics from The University of Greenwich and currently wishes to pursue CIMA professional qualification.
Harriette Guthrie
Credit and Portfolio Risk Analyst
Harriette joined THFC in July 2023 as a Credit and Portfolio Risk Analyst. She has around 9 years of experience in both real estate and commercial lending, throughout which time she has obtained a certificate in Commercial Lending, as well as an Associate Chartered Banker Diploma from BPP University. Prior to this, Harriette studied Applied Economics and French at Kingston University, spending a year in France studying at the University of Lyon.
Fiona MacGregor
Regulator of Social Housing Nominee Director
Fiona MacGregor was appointed the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) Chief Executive on 1 October 2018.
RSH was previously part of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), of which Fiona was the Executive Director of Regulation since November 2015.
Fiona has worked at the HCA since it launched in 2008, before which she was Deputy Director of Investment at the Housing Corporation, and Head of Development at London and Quadrant, a large registered provider.
Gail Teasdale
National Housing Federation Nominee Director
Gail is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience, much of it in Finance Director roles in a variety of industries both in the private and public sectors. She is Chief Executive of Broadacres, a housing association based in North Yorkshire with over 6,600 homes. She is a Board Member of the National Housing Federation where she chairs their audit and risk committee. She is also a board member of the Chorley Building Society. Gail was nominated by the National Housing Federation to THFC’s Board in March 2023.
Elisiah Bongou
Treasury Analyst
Elisiah joined THFC in January 2023 as a Finance Administrator. She holds a degree in Accounting and Finance from London Metropolitan University and a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Queen Mary University of London.
Max Watson
Relationship Manager
Max joined THFC in October 2022 as a Credit Analyst and switched across to the relationship management team in August 2023. Prior to THFC, he worked for 8 years at Handelsbanken in account management and predominately as a Credit Analyst. In this time he covered a variety of customers, including Personal Mortgages, Trading Business, Large Corporate, Commercial Real Estate and Social Housing. He is now focused on supporting THFC’s customers in London, the South West, North West and Scotland.
Email Max Watson here.
Corin Breckon
IT Support Analyst
Corin joined THFC in July 2022. He has worked in technology for over 9 years and has vast experience with fast-paced environments and different technological infrastructures. He began his career being 1 of only 6 people chosen to complete a fully government-funded apprenticeship scheme in Unified Communications, specialising in IT and Engineering. Corin has multiple industry qualifications including MCSA, SDI Analyst and ITIL Foundation certifications. Prior to joining THFC, he worked as a Senior IT Engineer for a software development company in London.
Madalena Lukau
Accounts Assistant
Steven Dighton-Brown
Management Accountant
Steven is a Chartered Management Accountant and joined THFC in November 2021. Previously, he spent 19 years working for Lloyds Bank across a wide spectrum of finance, including treasury and cash management, tax-based pricing, product control, financial planning, budgeting and forecasting, and PRA stress testing. Steven specialises in developing and reengineering processes and building efficiencies whilst maintaining controls.
Satindra Rana
Finance Assistant
Satindra began working at THFC in 2018 as a Finance Assistant. He graduated from the University of North London, with a degree in Business studies. He is part-qualified in the Institute of Export and International Trade, and has worked across many sectors, including publishing, banking and commodities. Satindra is currently studying for his ACCA professional qualification.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Satindra Rana here
Ian Lloyd
Head of Finance
Ian joined THFC in 2003 as an Accounts & Loans Administrator and in 2014 was appointed as Finance Manager. He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant in 2012 and studied for this professional qualification under full-sponsorship from the company.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Ian Lloyd here
Sharon Woodward
Relationship Manager
Sharon joined THFC in January 2017. She is ACA qualified, with a BSc in Chemistry & Management, and an MSc in International Business. She worked for two years with Smith & Williamson in their “recovery and reorganisation” division, before spending 5 years in a similar role at Grant Thornton. For the last 6 years she has been a Senior Analyst at RBS in their Financial Analysis Team covering among other sectors, healthcare (care homes), Retail, Pubs & Hotels, and Commercial Real Estate.
Email Sharon Woodward here
Andrew Lynch
Head of Credit Risk
Andy Lynch joined THFC in 2015, having spent the previous 3 years as Head of Credit for the Public Sector (including Social Housing) at Barclays. Prior to this, Andy spent 5 years with Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank where he was Head of Credit for the South of England, and latterly Head of Credit Training. His initial banking career was also with Barclays, where he worked for 25 years in relationship and credit roles.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Andrew Lynch here
Isabel Jiménez-Sinclair
Loan Security Analyst
Utilising her experience from the professional development, corporate administration and teacher training teams and the Basic Skills Agency, Isabel is highly skilled at organising and leading on tender processes for key contracts. She joined THFC in 2005 as an Executive Assistant but quickly transitioned to analysing valuation data and working on related processes (including property releases) as our Loan Security Analyst.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Isabel Jiménez-Sinclair here
Melissa Gheerawo Skilbeck
Head of Loan Security
Melissa is the Head of Loan Security for The Housing Finance Corporation. She is responsible for ensuring that all loan security portfolios for THFC and its associated entities remain compliant during the lifetime of the loan, as well as managing all charging exercises relating to new and existing finance with THFC’s borrowers. Melissa joined THFC in January 2016, having previously worked at Trowers & Hamlins for 12 years. She is a qualified solicitor with over 20 years’ experience in the social housing sector, which includes acting for the borrower and lender in various real estate finance transactions.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Melissa Gheerawo Skilbeck here
Gavin Richards
Head of Relationship Management
Gavin joined THFC in 2017 as a Relationship Manager and became Head of Relationship Management in 2024. Prior to THFC, he spent 27 years with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Gavin has been working as a lender to the social housing sector for over 20 years, serving a broad range of social housing providers from associations with national coverage, members of the G15, to small local community associations. Currently, he is focused on supporting THFC’s customers in London, the South East, North East and Northern Ireland.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Gavin Richards here
Will Stevenson
Group Treasurer
Will leads on investor relations, issuance of bonds and the maintenance of the group’s credit ratings. Will played a key role in the set up of bLEND Funding Plc. and pays particular attention to structuring deals to suit both housing association borrowers and investors to achieve the best results. Will was previously THFC’s Deputy Treasurer and Relationship Manager and holds the AMCT corporate treasury qualification.
+44 (0)20 7337 9920
Email Will Stevenson here
David Montague
David served as the Chief Executive of L&Q, one of Britain’s largest housing associations, between 2008 and 2021. Over thirty-two years David has, in a number of roles, overseen the company’s growth and success through mergers, acquisitions, major regenerations schemes and development partnerships with smaller associations. A leading figure in the sector, David has been chair of the G15 and served on the board of the National Housing Federation, as well as working with successive London Mayors. In 2013 David was awarded a CBE for services to housing in London. David was appointed to the board of THFC in March 2020. He is also Chair of Joseph Homes; non-executive director of Hadley Property Group, Heylo Housing Group and the Abri Group; senior advisor to Lloyds Banking Group; and non-executive advisor to property technology company Staykeepers.
Tony King
Chair of Remuneration and Nominations Committee
After twenty years in the housing sector, Tony retired as Group Treasurer of Sanctuary Group in 2019. He began his career in banking, including roles at various international banks. At Sanctuary, Tony used his experience in finance to oversee the Group’s loan book and fund new housing developments and regeneration projects. Tony is a trustee of the Church of England Pension Board, a non-executive Board member of Platform Housing Group, and holds finance and audit-based committee roles for the Sunshine Centre, an Oxfordshire children’s charity, and for the Heart of Worcestershire College.
Scott Bottles
Chair of Credit Committee
Scott Bottles was appointed to the Board in March 2018. He served as Executive Vice President and Senior Credit Officer for International Commercial Real Estate at Wells Fargo Bank until his retirement earlier this year. He has more than 30-years of experience in the commercial and residential real estate sectors in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Shirley Smith
Senior Independent Director
Shirley’s experience comprises over 35-years in real estate and infrastructure finance, covering debt, investment, restructuring, workout and credit with blue chip organisations (including CBRE, Citi, Barings, PwC, Lend Lease, Assured Guaranty and EY). She has an MA in Economics & Land Economy from the University of Cambridge and holds a Certificate in Investments and Financial Derivatives from the Securities & Investment Institute. Shirley was until 2020 a Non-Executive Director at CREFC (Europe), the Industry Association for commercial real estate debt in Europe and was a member of the Investment Property Forum. She joined THFC’s board in March 2018 and is the Senior Independent Director.
George Blunden
Chair
George joined THFC as a Non-Executive Director in March 2019. His full-time career has ranged from adventure playgrounds to investment banking and fund management. For nine years George was Chair of Charity Bank, retiring in May 2019. He has also just completed his term of office as the Senior Independent Director of the insurer, Beazley Plc. He has also been deeply involved in social housing Chairing Southern Housing Group from 1993 to 2006 and Stonewater, one of the UK’s largest housing associations since 2010. George stood down as Chair of Stonewater in October 2019. He is also chair of Revitalise, a charity providing holidays for disabled people and their carers.
Guy Thomas
Chair of Audit and Risk Committee
Guy is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director with over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. Prior to this executive retirement he was Group Finance Director of Principality Building Society, a lender to housing associations. A fellow of The Association of Corporate Treasurers, he has extensive experience in treasury and risk management. Guy is currently a Non-Executive Director of Sainsbury’s Bank where he is Chair of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. He is also Chair of Penhurst Properties Limited. He was appointed to the Board in May 2019.
Deborah Shackleton
CBE
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