Our Board

Ian Simpson

(Group Chair)

Retired Assistant Chief Executive

Appointed 2010

Ian has recently retired as Assistant Chief Executive of iNCommunities after 37 years in social housing in Bradford. He is a past Chair of Manningham HA, Foundation and the Yorkshire & Humberside Branch of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

James Stone LL B

(Vice Chair)

Solicitor

Appointed 1996

James is a partner in a large national law firm and has practised in Yorkshire for all his professional life. There he specialises in mixed use, housing and other regeneration projects on a national basis representing both public and private sector clients in that market. 

Abdul Guefor  ACA

(Treasurer)

Appointed 1999

Assistant Treasurer EMEA – Intel Corporation

Upon completion of his degree in Electronic Engineering Abdul worked as a Design Engineer in Spain and England.  He then joined PricewaterhouseCoopers and worked in the Audit and Transaction Support Groups.  He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1995.

Abdul joined Intel Corporation, the world’s largest semiconductor company, in 1999 as a manager in the Intel Capital group.  He was appointed Managing Director of this group in 2006 and was subsequently appointed Assistant Treasurer for Intel Corporation in 2010.  

Javid Patel BSc (Hons) MRICS

Chartered Surveyor

Appointed 2002

Javid joined Sadeh Lok in 1999 as member of its Audit Committee; he is now a group board member and Chair of Sadeh Lok Housing.

Javid is Chartered Surveyor and works primarily in providing strategic real estate strategy advice to public sector, health sector and corporate clients.  His work incorporates a wide range of consultancy projects including employee consultation, financial modeling, funding, procurement advice and estate strategy advice. He has extensive knowledge of the issues facings the housing sector.

Howard Ellis BA (Hons) Ad Dip Ed

Retired Headteacher

Appointed 2007               

Upon completion of a BA (Hons) in Social Science and Administration, Howard obtained an Advanced Diploma in Primary Education from the University of Cambridge. Following his education Howard was a Primary School teacher for 32 years, 23 of which were either as Head or Deputy Head in three Local Education Authorities before retiring in 2001.

As an experienced Primary Education specialist, working in a variety of social settings from inner London to North Yorkshire, Howard had the opportunity to work with many Children (and their parents) from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Gillian Bishop MBA

University Lecturer

Appointed 2007

Gillian joined the Board of Sadeh Lok Housing Group in 2007.  Gillian presently works at Huddersfield University in the Business School and is Course Leader for the full time MBA.  Gillian is also Programme Director for the Chartered Management Institute professional awards.

Gillian is a former Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and commenced her career in the Local Authority sector prior to moving into education, teaching students on the housing professional programmes.  Gillian has worked for the National Housing Federation supporting the practitioner groups and conducting research into policy developments.  Gillian was also contracted by the NHF to deliver Housing NVQs in the workplace.

Gillian qualified in Management with an MA in 1999 and achieved a Post Graduate Certificate in Education in 2003.  Gillian is currently studying on a PhD.

Cllr Shabir Pandor MCIH, PGDHA, PGCM

Appointed 2007

Cabinet Lead for Strategic Housing and Corporate Resources

A member of the Sadeh Lok Group Board since 2007, Shabir has served the local government in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester for 20 years. During his service Shabir has covered Homelessness, Housing Management, Housing Maintenance and Regeneration, bringing with him a wealth of valuable knowledge to the Group Board.

Shabir is a corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has previously been Cabinet Lead Member for Adults and Communities. Shabir has also been Chair of the Housing Management Committee, Chair of Area Committee and the Chair of Corporate Affairs Overview & Scrutiny.

Judith Crowther

Director of Older Peoples’ Services

Appointed 2010

Judith is presently Director of Older Peoples’ Services at Riverside ECHG in Liverpool. She lives locally in Halifax. Judith has worked in housing for 25 years. She began her career with an accounting firm.

Philip Bartey

Group Chief Executive

Appointed 2010

Philip is Group Chief Executive of The Adsetts Partnership and Autism Plus Ltd based in Doncaster. He has held Chief Executive roles in the charities sector for 20 years having held Sales & Marketing Director posts in the wine trade for 5 years prior to that.

John Jagger

Retired Managing Director

Appointed 2010

John has been retired for 5 years now and has wide private sector experience having held Managing Director roles for 32 years in the brewing and leisure industries. He has more recently had experience of being Chair of a range of businesses.  He started his career in sales and marketing but also holds an MBA and a Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance. MA Oxford

Stephen Dixon

Executive Director

Appointed 2010

Stephen was a non Executive Director and founder member of Berneslai Homes; he also has a wealth of auditing experience making him an ideal candidate for his new roles within the organisation. 

Carol Williams

Resident Board Member

Appointed 2011

Carol has been a resident of Sadeh Lok for 7 years and lives on the Red Doles scheme. She is; an active tenant on a local level, the Chair of the (Sadeh Lok) Residents Panel and a Resident Board Member.

Carol worked in the housing field for a number of years before returning to Huddersfield where she now takes lively interest in the health, education and housing of her community.