Group Board

Andrew Manning-Cox retired as Senior Litigation Partner of Gowling WLG (UK) LLP in 2018, having been with the organisation for 40 years. He specialised in dispute resolution world-wide. Andrew is now in practice as an Arbitrator, Mediator and a Notary Public.

Andrew is an experienced non-executive director of a number of companies and public bodies. He is currently Chair of Hereford Enterprise Zone (Skylon Park); a non-executive director of Thursfields Legal Limited, The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership, Worcestershire County Cricket Club; and a member of the Independent Remuneration Committee of Worcestershire County Council. Immediate past non-executive directorships include Malvern Hills Science Park and Central Technology Belt.

Craig Moule has been with Sanctuary for over 30 years, having joined the organisation in 1989 from Coopers & Lybrand. Craig was appointed Group Chief Executive on 1 January 2019. Prior to this he was the Group’s Chief Financial Officer. While holding this position, Craig oversaw Sanctuary being the first housing association to implement a SAP enterprise solution and the formation of our Corporate Shared Service Centre. Craig is an ex-officio member of the Group Board.

Trudi Elliott is a Chartered Town Planner and was formerly a lawyer, practising in both the public and private sectors. In April 2018 Trudi was appointed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as the Chair of the Planning Inspectorate for England and Wales. Trudi is a visiting Professor in planning and land economy at Henley Business School, University of Reading, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Prior to this Trudi was Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute; Director of the Government Office for the West Midlands; Chief Executive of West Midlands Regional Assembly (Regional Planning Body); Director of Local Government Practice (West Midlands); and Chief Executive of Bridgnorth District Council.

Trudi has considerable experience across the civil service, local Government, charity and private sector, and she has a strong track record of partnership working and delivery. Trudi sits on the Oxford Joint Planning Law Conference Committee; the University of Warwick Estates Committee; is Patron of the Commonwealth Association of Planners; is a Commissioner of UK2070, an inquiry into regional inequalities; and is a Trustee of Community Transport Wyre Forest.

Elwyn Roberts has an Engineering Sciences degree from Cambridge University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte Haskins and Sells in 1982. He became a partner in the multinational professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in 1990 and specialised in Audit and Assurance services in both the private and public sectors. He retired from the PwC partnership in December 2011. While at PwC, Elwyn was involved in developing the firm’s housing association client portfolio in Wales and the South West. He also advised a range of organisations in the charity sector, including the Aberfan Disaster Fund, and was appointed to the Charity Commission’s national working party for the development of the 2000 Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP).

Elwyn led and developed PwC’s Regional Risk Assurance practice in the Midlands, focusing on governance, risk, compliance and controls. He advised a range of clients on corporate governance and enterprise risk management matters. Between 2015 to 2018, he was an independent non-executive director at Jaguar Land Rover India Limited where he chaired the audit committee and served on the company’s nomination and remuneration committee. He is currently a trustee of a Cardiff-based charity that provides grants to a range of charitable organisations, including those addressing the issues of homelessness and disadvantaged children in Wales.

Denise Plumpton is currently Senior Independent Director of Think Active and Chair of its Audit and Governance Committee. Denise was a non-executive director within NHS primary care for 11 years (2007 to 2018) and chaired the Finance and Performance Committee there.

Since 2010 Denise has worked as an Independent Strategic Consultant advising and directing companies to improve their performance, in particular focusing on developing and delivering strategy, and enhancing customer service and process efficiency. Prior to this, Denise was Director of Information at the Highways Agency; IT Director at Sendo Group; Group IT Director at TNT UK & Ireland; and Chief Information Officer/Director for Powergen Plc.

Arvinda is Chief Executive of Central YMCA, the first ever YMCA. She was previously Chief Executive of Community Links, a social action and advocacy charity based in East London, where she led a strategic partnership with a national charity Catch22. Arvinda has worked in the not-for-profit and charitable sector all of her working life, including Chief Executive of Emmaus UK, where she developed a federation-wide strategy and introduced social investment to member organisations. Prior to this, she ran her own consultancy for five years, specialising in governance, leadership and equalities. Previous roles include Membership Services Director at the National Housing Federation; Assistant Director for Regulation at the Housing Corporation; and Chief Executive of two housing associations. Arvinda has also worked in South Africa where she assisted in developing a social housing model.   

As an experienced non-executive, Arvinda is Chair of the Peel, a charity that has been building a connected community in Clerkenwell since 1898, and an advisory board member at the Fore.

James Thallon is an experienced senior NHS clinical leader with a wide portfolio of experience. In pioneering the role of Medical Director in Primary Care Trusts and beyond, he has deliberately taken his medical management career well beyond that of clinical leader and adviser and provided strategic leadership and support to the task of creating an improving, sustainable health economy working predominantly within Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Between 1998 and 2014 James worked in various General Practices. In addition, James has held various medical director positions since 2007. In recent times, between 2015 and 2018 James was Medical Director (Kent, Surrey and Sussex) NHS England and in 2018/2019 he was Acting Regional Medical Director NHS England South East. At the end of 2019, James returned to General Practice at Acle Medical Partnership on the Norfolk Broads. As part of this role James is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of East Anglia, teaching clinical skills to second year medical students.

James has over nine years’ experience as an NHS Executive Board Member with a sound and detailed understanding of NHS business and finances. Until recently he was Chair of Trustees for Crossways Community, a charity providing long-term therapeutic residential accommodation for people with significant mental health issues. James has been a non-executive director on the Sanctuary Care Board since May 2018 and he joined the Sanctuary Home Care Committee of Management in June 2019.

Ian Chisholm has over thirty years of executive experience in finance and treasury roles in large and complex organisations. He is currently Group Treasurer of Grosvenor Group, the international property management and development company. Ian oversees all treasury activities including managing cash and financial risks, ensuring adequate liquidity and executing financing transactions for all operating companies. Responsibilities include advising senior management and various boards on treasury matters and risks, setting treasury policy and standards, building and maintaining relationships with principal financial institutions and key internal stakeholders, and leading a team of ten treasury professionals.

Ian has operated at board level, both from an executive perspective, as Chief Executive of the Shell UK Pension Fund, and from a non-executive perspective, as President, Audit Committee Chair and Council Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Alok Bhalla had a long and successful career in the private sector with over 30 years of diverse experience in senior roles at financial institutions including Citibank, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank across multiple locations in India, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Over his career, he developed significant expertise across a number of asset classes including equities, debt, commodities, foreign exchange, rates and hybrids and has worked extremely closely with a range of clients, personally leading a number of landmark transactions in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Alok has held pivotal roles in leading and building businesses and teams, structuring and executing complex transactions, managing risk, and optimising balance sheet and capital.

Alok spends his time helping Private Equity owned entities and Private Equity/Venture Capital Funds raise structured debt from public and private markets. He also serves as a director, investor and advisor to a number of start-up companies whose founders he mentors.

Ed Lunt joined Sanctuary Group in May 2019 as Group Finance Director. He is responsible for finance and treasury, ensuring the Group maintains its financial strength to deliver its ambitions. Ed is also a co-opted member of the Group Board.

Ed is a Chartered Accountant who previously worked at Alliance Medical Limited, where he was the UK Finance Director. Prior to this Ed worked as a Finance Director at National Express Plc and at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for 15 years, where he moved through various roles to become Audit Director.

As Group Director - Corporate Services, Nicole Seymour is responsible for human resources, learning and development, communications, health and safety, facilities, governance and legal services. Nicole is a co-opted member of the Group Board and is the Company Secretary to Sanctuary and all of its subsidiaries.

Nicole joined Sanctuary in 2012 through its successful graduate programme. After completion of the programme, she initially worked in Sanctuary’s Business Development team before setting up a new service for the strategic oversight of complaints, management of enquiries from key external contacts, and the maintenance of policies and procedures across the Group.