Board

Howard Cresswell (Chair)

I am currently Chair of Integration & Transformation Committee and Board member at Southern Housing. I have 34 years of experience working in social housing as an executive, interim chief executive, consultant, and non-executive director. I also had a long career at Circle 33/Circle Anglia, becoming deputy group chief executive, and I have a professional background in governance, people management and development. I currently live in Suffolk.

Sara Garnham (Vice Chair)

I bring experience from Executive and Non-Executive positions in public, private and third-sector organisations across various sectors including construction, housing, the tech sector, education, care and the arts.

I am also actively involved in the local community in Cambridge.

I first got involved in housing as a charity Board member in the 1980s in Cambridge, leading the charity through an ambitious development programme. In 2006, I joined Hill Partnership as business development director, and I have continued my commitment to the social housing sector with various housing association Board roles.

I am also currently Chair of Havebury’s Resident Experience Committee (REC) and Chair of the Board at Hundred Houses Society in Cambridge.

Adam Colby

I am an independent management consultant specialising in business transformation. I’ve worked with various organisations, including local and national housing associations. My first independent piece of work was with Havebury in 2013, which introduced me to the organisation and housing. It’s a fantastic organisation with good, clear social values at its heart. It’s great to be able to support them as a non-executive director on their Resident Experience and People, Remuneration and Nominations Committees.

Kym Hudson

I have an impressive track record of outstanding performance at senior levels in risk, transformational change, customer service and operations management over more than 30 years in the financial services industry. I led the Customer Proposition Integration Programme when NatWest and RBS merged in 2001. More recently, I was one of a very small cadre of female executives to lead the regulatory interface during a high-profile industry payments systems failure. I hold an Operations Management MBA from Warwick University, am qualified in AML/STF and am an MSP practitioner in Programme Management. I am also a seasoned conference speaker, am media trained and have appeared on TV discussing the life and challenges of senior women in banking.

Since leaving full-time City life, I have worked as an executive coach and mentor, become a business consultant, started working with a financial services recruitment company, been a non-executive director for a FinTech start-up and am now excited to be working with Havebury. Away from work, I am married to Martin and have a daughter, Ciara.

Claire Davis

I have 30 years of experience in the UK and Australia’s social and affordable housing sector. As a chartered accountant, my senior management roles included finance director and director of corporate Services, delivering a range of services including finance, HR, IT and risk management.

I now combine my work as an Executive Coach with my non-executive director roles.

I am a non-executive director at BlueCHP Ltd, Sydney, Australia, as well as a member of the Group Audit & Risk Committee of Ocean Housing Group, Cornwall, UK and a non-executive director of Ocean’s wholly owned subsidiary called Gilbert & Goode Ltd, Cornwall.

Deb Thomas

I joined the Board in September 2022.  I enjoy using my professional and technical expertise to scrutinise the services provided by Havebury for the benefit of current and future residents.

I am an assistant director of development at Aster Group, a large housing associate based in Wiltshire, with homes across much of the south-west of England.  I have worked in the housing sector since 2016, when I joined Central & Cecil Housing Trust (C&C), working in their Development team. In August 2018, I became executive director for property and development, responsible for development, asset management, repairs, and property compliance.  Following C&C’s merger with Aster in January 2022, I now have responsibility for development activity in London.

I am a structural engineer by training and worked for Arup for over 25 years, designing buildings, including offices, museums, schools, and housing.  I am passionate about sustainable design and have a growing interest in heat networks and the contribution they can make to reducing carbon emissions. Outside of work, I am a trustee of CTU Collective and Camden Highline, both Camden-based charities. I moved to Cambridge in 2020 and am the group scout leader at the 1st Trumpington Scout Group.

Marium Asghar

I spent 12 years working in healthcare, in leadership positions. I am a shared owner in Norfolk. I was appointed to Board in December 2023.

Andrew Hill

I am currently Director of Treasury and Corporate Finance at Clarion Housing Group, leading a team responsible for managing a debt portfolio of over £4.5bn.

Born in Bury St Edmunds, I still live locally.

I am a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a chartered accountant. My career spans a range of sectors including healthcare, manufacturing and more recently, housing. I have experience from a number of non-executive positions in local and national housing associations, most recently as a Non-Executive Director at Freebridge Community Housing. I was appointed to Board and Homes & Investment Committee in November 2023.

Keith Harris

I have been involved in housing associations for many years, and have been a Havebury resident for nearly five years. I became involved in a couple of tenant forums which I found interesting and which encouraged me to apply for a role on Havebury’s Resident Experience Committee (REC), which I am currently Vice Chair of.

My working career has involved 39 years in the domestic gas industry, serving many different councils and housing associations in a contractor capacity. As well as many years in the field, I also held management positions for many years. This gave me an insight into both sides of the fence. As a result, I am capable of basing decisions on factual evidence as well as holding my own in-depth investigations and making sound decisions.

Julian Foster

I am a chartered accountant and corporate treasurer. I was the executive finance director of Broadland Housing Association until 2019. I have held four senior finance director roles in growing housing association groups in the eastern region over the last 20 years.

In these roles, I have been instrumental in delivering a series of ground-breaking corporate funding deals and large technology projects and leading the development and corporate governance. My early career included senior positions in investment banking. This led to roles as finance director of both a building society and a futures and options local.

I am currently Chair of the Audit Committee at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I’m married to Rachel, a retired police officer who is now a curate in the Church of England. I also have two daughters, Naomi and Jessica, who work for the NHS.

I am a shadow trustee of Level Up, a proposed charity providing assistive technology for disabled people. This is led by my stepson Michael and daughter-in-law Kelly.