Directors | Connexus

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.

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.

Nick Batt

Communities and Customer

Services Director

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 will oversee housing, support and customer services.

Fleur Whittingham

Property Director

Fleur is passionate about social housing, with a particular focus on ensuring customers are safe and feel safe in their homes. In a career spanning 20 years in housing, she is proud to have worked with colleagues and organisations across the sector, to collectively drive-up safety standards. Fleur has been instrumental in driving up safety standards across the industry.

Fleur is leading the transformation of services through innovation and the integration of new technologies, Fleur is committed to enhancing the customer journey and ensuring that individuals feel safe and supported in their homes.

Matt Pitt

People Director

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.

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