Our team

Peter joined the Board as its Chair in October 2025. He is a qualified radiographer with an MBA from the University of Leeds, and brings extensive leadership experience in health services, higher education, social enterprise and refugee support. Peter has led hospital and mental health services in the UK, spearheaded the strategic transformation of an Australian university, worked in infectious disease research in West Africa, managed an academy conversion of secondary schools, and served as Chief Executive of a refugee service.  

His non‑executive work includes NHS board roles and consulting on international healthcare in the United States, Cyprus and Russia. Peter is particularly committed to listening to people with lived experience, embedding customer perspective in decision‑making and leading the delivery of Acis’s Corporate Strategy.   

Julie Haywood has spent most of her career within housing and community investment. Most recently she was Director of Community Investment for Walsall Housing Group where she worked for 17 years, leading innovative customer focused services. People and communities really matter to her and she is passionate about the role that housing can play in promoting inclusivity and championing the customer voice. 

Julie currently holds Non-Executive roles for Adullam Homes and Concept Housing. 

Paul joined our Board in 2022. He is a qualified certified Accountant who has worked in the NHS for over 37 years in various roles.

Paul has over 15 years Board level experience as an Executive Director of Finance in large complex organisations. He has significant experience of public/private partnerships, acquisitions and mergers, joint ventures and he also has led on the setting up of a community interest company to support people back to work.

Before this Non- Executive role, Paul was a Non- Executive Director on the Board of Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group and chaired their Audit Committee. Paul is passionate about public services and believes that good Health, Education and Housing services support people to lead better lives.

Holly has been involved in Procurement and Contract Management for over 20 years in various public and third sector organisations. She is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

Holly has been in her current role, as Head of Strategic Procurement at the City of Doncaster Council, for 6 years where she is responsible for a portfolio of spend of approximately £300m per year. In addition to this she is responsible for procurement services at St Leger Homes of Doncaster Limited, an ALMO of the Council, who have a housing stock of approximately 20,000.

Prior to moving to the Council in 2017, Holly worked in the Housing Sector for 10 years for a Registered Provider in North Lincolnshire called Ongo, where her remit included procurement and value for money. In addition to general procurement at Ongo, Holly was involved with tenant engagement, developing more efficient operations and ensuring best value for rents paid.

Holly started her career, after graduating from university in 2002, in the NHS, working for the two Trusts in Doncaster in various roles relating to purchasing and supplies.

In her roles Holly has been involved with significant changes and events in the public sector such as major changes in legislation, Covid-19, austerity, flooding and more recently the closure of the Doncaster & Sheffield Airport (DSA).

Holly is passionate about public services through delivering better contracting, developing more efficient ways of working through redesigns in process and operations, developing staff, and social value.

David is a retired Barclays Corporate Bank Relationship Director, who in the last 20 years of his career managed a portfolio of around 30 clients, within a geographical area that included the Midlands and South Yorkshire. The portfolio was made of large Social Landlords (both traditional and LSVT’s) and high profile Universities.

Having focused on Social Housing in the last 20 years of his career David continues to have keen interest in the the housing sector, particularly development and the role that Housing Associations play in helping the country deal with the housing crisis while supporting many of the most vulnerable in our society.

Following retirement he joined the Board of the Leicestershire YMCA which enabled him to utilise his banking and social housing experiences.

He supports all the Leicester sporting clubs; is a member of Stoke Rochford Golf Club, enjoys Cycling (having raised around £12k for Prostate Cancer in previous years); is a vineyard tour and wine tasting host at Hanwell Wine Estate in South Nottinghamshire; is a "Padi" qualified Dive Master; and enjoys travel, food, wine, family and walking his dog.

Matt is the founder of one of the fastest growing impact-driven social enterprises, the We Are Group, headquartered in Coventry, which manages large community investment and welfare programmes across the UK for social housing providers, local authorities and central government. He mentors other social enterprise founders, and is specifically skilled in strategic objectives, fundraising, social impact, selling to the public sector and welfare matters. He is passionate about public sector innovation and welfare technology and services, looking to do things differently from the status quo, especially in disrupting how community investment is run traditionally, for higher impact for users and organisations. Matt is committed to contributing his strategic acumen, industry knowledge, and collaborative spirit to advance Acis Group's social mission.

Cath joined as an Independent Committee Member in 2024, having previously worked in employment law for 25 years and then ten years as a trade union official with UNISON.  A previously elected District Councillor, she was appointed as Anti-Poverty Champion for the District in 2017.

Cath spent six years as vice chair of Bradford District Credit Union and seven years on the board of Manningham Housing Association where she chaired the Customer Experience Committee and sat on the HR and Remuneration Committee. She has been a member of the Housing Ombudsman Service's Resident Panel since 2020.

A disability champion and community campaigner with lived experience of social housing, Cath was shortlisted for Lifetime Achiever Award in Equality Diversity and Inclusion in 2024 at the Diversifying Group Awards and won Tenant of the Year in 2023 at the Northen Housing Awards.

Paul is a chartered surveyor with 35 years’ experience in construction, property development, support services and student accommodation. Most of his career was with Balfour Beatty, the international construction company, where he was Commercial Director helping set the strategic direction and business planning for businesses with combined annual revenues of £1.6bn and employing 18,000 people. More recently he was Managing Director of University Property Partnership (UPP), the UK’s largest on-campus student housing provider with 40,000 units under management.

Since leaving UPP in 2023, Paul has striven to give something back to the property sector and the communities it serves. He holds Non-Executive roles for Ethical Leasehold Management Group, Raven Housing Trust and the University of Reading.

Tom Hughes joined the board as a Trainee Board Member in 2024, and is part of the Housing Diversity Network trainee programme. Tom currently working for Berneslai Homes as the Senior Capital Project Manager responsible in delivering Barnsley Home Standard programmes, Extensive Capital, Disrepair, Major Adaptation, Programme Replacements and recently energy efficiency projects both fabric first and whole house approach. Tom has a combined 13 years experience in the Water Treatment and Housing industries which has allowed him to work and gain knowledge and experience across a number of sectors. 

Nabeel joined the board in September 2026, having previously held the post of Independent Committee Member and Board Trainee.

Currently working for Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, he leads on transformation, strategic projects and operations for its global network infrastructure and services business. Prior to this, Nabeel led Mastercard’s UK & Ireland government business – working closely with a wide range of banks, payments companies and industry partners to champion the use of technology to facilitate more effective payments in the public sector and leverage payments data to enhance policy development and evaluation.

Before Mastercard, Nabeel spent five years working at Metro Bank, one of the UK’s first challenger banks. There, he worked in both the products and finance teams to build propositions, develop business change cases, and procure new services. Earlier in his career, Nabeel worked as a management consultant leading projects across Europe, the Middle East, and N. America and prior to that, he was a senior political adviser.

Nabeel is also a board member at Greatwell Homes, a housing provider based in Northamptonshire. 

Kitesh joined Acis Group in September 2024 as an Independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee, bringing a fresh perspective and a wealth of experience to the table.

Currently serving as the Director of Risk at Places for People, Kitesh is known for his strategic thinking and his ability to navigate complex challenges with ease. Before stepping into this role, Kitesh honed his skills at Mercedes-Benz UK and the Volkswagen Group, where he was a driving force behind transformative approaches to risk management, governance, and operational resilience.

Beyond his day job, Kitesh plays a vital role in the public sector as a member of the Joint Audit and Risk Assurance Panel for Leicestershire Police, where his insights help strengthen governance and ensure operational excellence.

Kitesh is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, a full member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors and holds an MBA in Leadership Practice. His commitment to continuous growth and learning is evident in every aspect of his career.

Angela has extensive experience in the education sector, with over ten years as school governor and or trustee, including chair of governors, and four years as a college and university lecturer. Angela was also the executive lead for an award-winning local Healthwatch, and has held senior positions at a housing association for over seven years, and four years at a homeless day centre.

Brian joined the board in September 2026.

He is a qualified Youth & Community Worker and holds a degree in Psychology, is PRINCE II qualified and holds an Assessor Award.

Brian has held management roles in social care for over 20 years and has been a director for the past 11 years. Brian is currently Director of Adult Social Care at Mind in London. In addition to his full time Director role, Brian is Vice Chair of a London based community organization, holds a Public Appointment at the Ministry of Defense and volunteers at Shelter Charity.

Guy joined the Board as Chair of Finance and Asset Investment Committee in September 2026.

He has worked in the social housing sector for nearly 30 years in a variety of senior positions, including as a chief financial officer, board member and audit committee chair. 

He was previously Director of Finance & Resources at Connect Housing and Executive Director of Finance at Yorkshire Housing. 

Guy brings significant skills and experience to the Board including leadership, strategic financial & treasury management, residential property development, performance management and a strong knowledge and understanding of good governance in the social housing sector. He is also a non-executive Director at Irwell Valley Homes and Northpoint Wellbeing.

He is passionate about delivering a great service to people while providing them with quality, affordable homes.

Zoe joined the board in September 2026.

She has been in the social housing sector for more c25 years in governance, risk and compliance roles.

She was Company Secretary for the Hyde Group and has previously been responsible for provision of risk management, audit services and assurance matters. 

She is an experienced governance professional and has served on boards of small housing associations and registered charities, and chaired the National Housing Federation Governance Forum. She is also chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at Lincolnshire Housing Partnership.

Zoe has worked closely with customer and tenant representatives, and is keen to support ways to bring the customer voice and influence to the work of Acis.