Governance of Whiteley Village
To ensure the money he bequeathed was used in accordance with his wishes, our Founder William Whiteley, nominated “eight trustworthy persons” to act as Original Trustees, two of whom were his sons, Frank and William.
Today, the stewardship of Whiteley’s legacy is entrusted to 11 independent, unpaid Trustees, chaired by Mark Henderson supported by the Board Secretary. The Board of Trustees administers the Trust and is responsible for the wellbeing of the community.
Mark Henderson
Chair of the Board of Trustees
Mark is Chief Executive of Home Group, with 55,000 homes under management across Scotland and England and one of the largest providers of supported housing, working with 26,000 vulnerable people in nearly 500 services. Home Group is also one of the largest developers of housing in the UK.
Mark previously ran his own business before joining Home Group, before that he had worked with the RDA as Operations Director and a variety of regeneration and economic development jobs across the country in local government, most recently as Chief Executive of one of the largest County Councils in the country. He is a former Board Member for the National Housing Federation as well as a former Chair of Homes for the North. Mark is currently a Board Member of Homes England and Chair of their Change Committee.
Mark is a `petrol-head`, and races a Yamaha in classic motorcycle races and is a season ticket holder at Newcastle United.
Craig Bryant
Craig started his career as a project finance lawyer at a magic circle law firm, where he got his passion for the provision and operation of infrastructure and real estate.
Subsequently he has worked in legal, commercial and governance functions across all sides of the residential equation – as owner, developer, contractor, operator and funder advisor. He has worked extensively in the purpose-built student accommodation, Build to Rent (BTR) and Co Living sectors, as well as public infrastructure, and now provides legal and commercial advice through his own advisory company.
Craig is a strong believer that the provision of safe, high quality, well-designed accommodation and amenities can significantly improve people’s daily lives and will use his experience and expertise in this area to benefit the residents of Whiteley Village.
Ali Kennedy
Ali is an experienced finance professional, strategist and company director working in the defence industry. She has over 30 years’ experience gained in the defence, cybersecurity, oil & gas and engineering industries including BAE Systems plc, Sophos plc, BP plc and Wood Group plc.
She holds other non-executive, trustee and committee roles including a pension fund and a further education college. She chairs the Confederation of British Industry Tax Committee, is a CBI West Midlands Council member and is on the Economic Growth Board. These roles involve regular communication with government on fiscal policy.
Ali is a past director of the UK chapter of International Women’s Forum, a global organisation advancing leadership across careers, cultures and continents. She leads on initiatives to encourage women and girls to pursue careers in the technology sector and supports STEM education in schools.
Ali holds a BSc (Hons) in Genetics from University of Aberdeen and is a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Outside of work, Ali is mum to a very sporty family and is a keen parkrunner and marathon runner.
Melanie Lindsay
Melanie has extensive experience of working with executive leadership and boards of medium and large organisations, and has served clients in both the public and private sectors. Her work has spanned multiple industries including financial services, media, healthcare and retailing.
With proven expertise at creating consensus amongst internal and external stakeholders, Melanie has helped deliver significant, sustainable change and greater profitability through performance and organisational improvement, strategy development and change management.
She has held senior executive roles at media giant Reuters and global strategy consultant, McKinsey & Co and worked with high profile not for profit organisations such as The Prince’s Trust’s Business in the Community programme and with the Cherie Blair Foundation.
Nathan Rees
Nathan is a solicitor specialising in commercial real estate and is a Partner at Shoosmiths, a major UK law firm with over 1,500 employees. Prior to joining Shoosmiths in 2012, he spent around 10 years working for a major City-based firm.
Nathan’s role often involves advising boards and other senior stakeholders. One of his strengths, which he brings to the Trust, is analysing issues and making strategic decisions to best serve the long-term future of the charity. His natural interest in all things relating to buildings and history attracted him to the Trust, as well as the opportunity to support such a worthwhile cause.
Nathan has three teenage children which take up much of his “spare” time and is also a keen cyclist.
Robbie Young
Robbie is a qualified chartered accountant (ICAS, CA) currently working in the UK’s largest municipal bus company, but his previous experience includes large charities and university. Robbie comes from an audit background and has worked with clients across a wide range of sectors and industries, including many well-known charities in Edinburgh.
Sanjay Gulati
Sanjay has a wealth of experience in the not for profit sector in the UK, Canada and Ireland. He has worked in health and social care for more than 30 years, and has extensive experience across social housing, older people services, family and youth services and community services.
Sanjay is currently working as CEO for Age UK Croydon involved in transforming organisation culture towards one organisation, one team, aligned with its Vision, Mission and Values. He is also actively incorporating client engagement in its service delivery process.
Sanjay is a Chartered Member of Chartered Institute of Housing.
Trustee Responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees Report, which incorporates the Strategic Report, and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).
Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the group and charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
- Make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent
- State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
- Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions. They must disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charity and ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
If you are interested in becoming a Trustee, see our Trustee recruitment page here.
