Peaks & Plains appoints chair

The Macclesfield-based housing provider has appointed former Trafford Housing Trust executive director Jane McCall as its new chair.

McCall succeeds John Hudson, who stood down on 1 May.

She held the position of executive director of neighbourhoods at Trafford Housing Trust for a decade until 2016, and more recently served as a non-executive director for the Office of Legal Complaints, the Legal Ombudsman, and as deputy chair of University Hospital South Manchester, known as Wythenshawe Hospital.

McCall holds several other non-executive roles at organisations across the country. She is currently chair of Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care Foundation Trust, and serves as a non-executive director of the Information Commissioner’s Office and of the House of Commons Commission.

Mark Howden, interim chief executive of Peaks & Plains Housing Trust, said: “[McCall’s] skillset and track record reinforce the robust action plan on which we are working closely with the Regulator for Social Housing to put in place, and we very much look forward to welcoming her as our new chair.”

McCall said: “Peaks & Plains is a strong organisation with an excellent reputation that I have followed throughout my own career.

“Our social purpose as an organisation and sector is more evident now than ever before. Despite the economic, regulatory and compliance challenges that face us all in the current climate, I am confident the trust has the right team in place to tackle these.”

Peaks & Plains is working on several projects, including to build 67 apartments on a site near Macclesfield town centre, formerly home to a Georgian mill, after buying the site from PH Homes in 2017.

Howden added: “We would like to thank [former chair John Hudson] for his years of dedicated service to the trust.

“He leaves an organisation that is financially robust and has a clear strategic direction on how it plans to enhance and restore the governance standard the trust is known for.”