Meet the team

Directors

Kate Smith

Chief Executive

Kate has a wealth of experience gained from 15 years at executive level in the social housing sector, with organisations of scale, complexity and ambition. Before joining Connexus Kate worked for national housing and care provider Anchor, where she was group executive director of business services for five years.

Kate has held executive leadership positions at Southern Housing and bpha, as well as a number of non-executive positions.

Matt Pitt

Chief People Officer

An experienced senior leader, Matt’s last role was with maintenance business Novus Property Solutions, where he spent four years as people director.

Before this, he worked for six years at the global environmental solutions business Veolia in a variety of senior HR roles, including head of people development. He also has experience within the housing sector, as well as manufacturing and financial services.

Nick Batt

Chief Operating Officer

Nick joined Connexus from Pobl Group - Wales’ largest social landlord and provider of care, support and other accommodation services across South Wales. Prior to joining Pobl, he worked in customer-focused roles with organisations primarily in the technology sector, after nearly a decade in financial services. Nick is responsible for leading teams delivering housing, support and customer services, with overall accountability for Connexus' compliance with the consumer standards and is the lead responsible for Health and Safety

James Taylor

Finance Director

James joined Connexus in January 2024 as head of finance and procurement, playing a key role in securing £100m of funding by the end of that year. James will oversee our long-term financial planning as well as leading procurement, development and several other support functions.

Our Non-Executive Directors

Anne Turner

Chair of the Board

A qualified accountant, Anne spent 25 years in executive positions in three large housing association groups in the Midlands which has given her an excellent knowledge and understanding of the sector and the issues it faces. Over the years she has highlighted the importance of sound finances, excellent treasury and cash management as well as the need for surpluses to invest in new and improved homes and services.

Since retiring from her role as chief operating officer at Orbit Group in March 2016, she has concentrated on non-executive positions, primarily in housing associations. This has included group board roles in three large and varied registered social landlords, including chairing treasury and audit committees.

Having previously served on numerous CIPFA and NHF committees and working groups on housing related issues, Anne was a regular speaker at housing and finance conferences. In 2023 she was appointed as treasurer trustee of the Stratford upon Avon Foodbank, as she was keen to use her skills to support local projects and initiatives.

Nicola de Iongh

Senior Independent Director

Chair of People Committee

Nicola is passionate about social transformation, and in particular the systemic relationship between education, health and housing.

As Chair of Council at the University of Gloucestershire, she is an advocate for education as a means of transforming people’s lives so that they can make the world a better place, and for the civic role the University plays in its community. She is a champion for the University’s pioneering approach to Sustainability. She is currently Vice Chair of the UK’s University Chairs representative body, the CUC, becoming Chair in June 2024.

Nicola sits on the Board of the Gloucestershire Health and Care Foundation Trust.

In the private sector, Nicola chairs the Reference Committee for the Premier Miton UK Responsible Investment Fund, with a remit to advise on the fund’s investment policy and scrutinise investment decisions from the perspective of sustainability and ethics.

Previously, Nicola worked in the financial services sector as a global change lead. She also spent several years working as a freelance management consultant majoring in complex, strategic change across different sectors, both in the UK and internationally.

Simon Ewins

Non-Executive Director

Chair of Customer Committee

Simon is the Managing Director of Whitbread Plc Hotels and Restaurants, overseeing the day to day running of 1,300 operations and a team of 35,000 people, delivering in excess of £2.5bn annual turnover.

His strengths centre on leading complex and scale operations, transformational change, and rapid organisational growth. This through a lens of sustainable 21st century leadership.

His life experiences, combined with family ties to Shropshire and Herefordshire, have given Simon a real passion for the Connexus journey.

Imran Patel

Non-Executive Director

Board member

Imran is an experienced board-level director with a strong track record in the telecoms and utilities sectors, recognised for driving performance in large-scale, complex organisations. He has led significant improvements in customer experience, operational transformation, and employee engagement, consistently delivering measurable outcomes.

He previously served as Chief Customer and Digital Officer at Yorkshire Water, where he was responsible for leading enterprise-wide customer, digital, and transformation strategies. He now holds an executive position at Vyntelligence as SVP of Utilities and Telecoms, where he focuses on scaling technology-led solutions and driving innovation across regulated industries.

Imran brings extensive experience working with executive teams and boards to deliver strategic change, including the development of new business models and customer-centric transformation programmes.

He joined Connexus as a Co-optee to the Customer Services and Enterprise and Development Committees in November 2020 and was appointed to the Board in November 2021. Imran is the Board member responsible for customer complaints.

Julian Bill

Non-Executive Director

Chair of Audit and Risk

Julian has board experience within both financial services and social housing. He is a chartered accountant and in a 30-year career within financial services has held executive roles in finance, risk and internal audit.  His most recent role is chief risk officer at Monmouthshire Building Society. He has served for 10 years as a non-executive director at Pobl Housing Group in South Wales, where he chaired the audit and risk committee.  

Helen Southwell

Non-Executive Director

Helen has over 30 years’ professional experience as a senior leader in the health sector, primarily in the NHS. Her roles extend across general management, transformation and organisational change, strategic planning, and commissioning both at local system and regional level in the Midlands.

She is an experienced non-executive director across several Midlands-based housing associations as well as holding trustee roles in special education. Helen recently retired from the board of Platform Housing Group, where she was chair of their people and governance committee and board member responsible for complaints 

Helen is a passionate advocate for listening to customers, and through strong partnerships and governance, delivering positive impact to people and local communities

Helen lives in rural Worcestershire with her family.

James Savage

Non-Executive Director

James served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) for more than 35 years. His career encompassed senior roles leading HR strategy for both the RAF and all three UK Armed Forces; and in infrastructure, with responsibility for major portfolios of military bases in the UK and overseas.

He rose to lead the RAF’s infrastructure profession and, in his final role, led the provision of housing to circa 40,000 families of all three Armed Forces in the UK and across 16 countries in Europe. For his work leading Defence housing through an exceptionally challenging period while setting the conditions for a major programme of improvements, he was made a CBE in the 2025 New Year's Honours List.

He has experienced housing services as both a customer and the provider of military housing and is passionate about the importance of delivering high-quality housing and related services. He also brings extensive experience developing strategy for very large organisations, and leading large, dispersed teams through major change.

Philip Ingle

Non-Executive Director

Philip is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, qualifying while working for the Consulting Engineers WS Atkins.

Following a move to Finance Director for the Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority he enjoyed a career in the housing sector for nearly 20 years as Deputy Chief Executive and Finance Director at The Housing Plus Group in the Midlands. In this role Philip gained significant experience in finance, treasury, business planning, mergers and governance.

Following his retirement, Philip continues to play a role in the housing sector as a Non-Executive Board Member which include being Chair of Audit and Risk and Board Member at Muir Group.

Anne Copeland

Non-Executive Director

Anne has 30 years’ experience as a real estate investment manager advising institutional clients including pension funds, charities and local authorities. She is a chartered surveyor and is regulated to undertake investment business. Her specialism is impact and impact investing across housing, health, and education. She is an experienced non-executive director and is currently chair of the Investment, Treasury, and Assets Committee at Look Ahead Care & Support. Anne is passionate about improving the outcomes for vulnerable people and communities.

Non-Executive Directors Interests June 2026

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Governance

Want to know more about how Connexus is governed? The Governance page goes into more detail.