Directors

Brian Johnson – Chief Executive Officer

Brian Johnson was appointed CEO of Metropolitan in October 2012.

He comes to Metropolitan from Moat where he was CEO for four years. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive of CityWest Homes, managing 22,000 homes for Westminster City Council and Executive Director of Operations for Remploy, which employs 6,000 people with disabilities.

Brian’s previous career includes managerial positions at Tate and Lyle and at ICI.

Sarah Mussenden – Executive Director of Finance

Sarah joined Metropolitan in January 2013. She is a qualified, chartered accountant who trained with Deloittes where she spent the first 10 years of her career. She then held a number of senior finance roles for British Airways plc, in corporate reporting and audit roles and working with a number of operational directors as a business partner. One of the business partner roles held financial responsibility for the airline’s £billion plus property portfolio and included the role of Finance Director for its £350m Terminal 5 project. Her most recent role was as Chief Finance Officer for a major London NHS Trust.

Sarah’s goals are to ensure that the Finance team and the rest of the organisation are integrated and share a true business partnership to drive through business transformation and upper quartile financial performance. To ensure that critical financial issues are communicated to, and understood widely, by internal and external stakeholders through improved, long-term strategic financial planning, communication, and high quality analysis and financial reporting.

When not at work Sarah enjoys books, travel, fashion and interior design and is a mother to two teenagers who keep her up to speed with trashy TV and loud music.

Jenny Danson – Executive Director of Housing Services

Jenny joined Metropolitan as Regional Director North in June 2012.

Jenny has spent the last three years working as an interim change manager for Lovell, Connaught and Boots Opticians. She previously worked for six years with Northgate Public Services where she lead a range of major transformational projects in housing, community and technical divisions with unitary authorities, ALMOs, housing associations and within the private sector. As well as successful, sustainable service transformation, her experience includes project and programme management, audit commission inspections and significant strategic HR and union negotiation.

Before joining Northgate in 2003, Jenny held key senior operational and strategic management positions with BAA plc at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Prior to this she was engaged in operational and commercial development roles in a facilities management outsourcing company for the NHS.

With strong skills in stakeholder management and communication, Jenny is passionate about delivering excellent services and has worked as a transformation programme and project director.

Jenny lives in Derby and is married with two young children. She loves cooking and entertaining, gardening and both watching and participating in sports.

Liz Hughes – Executive Director of People and Resourcing

Before coming to Metropolitan, Liz previously spent 20 years in the private sector in legal, accountancy and consulting engineering organisations.

Liz is responsible for cultural change, business process change, the Business Programme Office, organisational development, learning and development, operational HR, reward, payroll and HR systems, the HR Shared Service Centre, communications, facilities management and health and safety. She is a member of the Executive Management Team.

Aniekan Umoren – Executive Director of Development, Regeneration and Communities

Aniekan brings a wealth of experience to Metropolitan, gained in most aspects of housing and related services. She started her career in housing renewal areas in Haringey and progressed through to director level appointments in supported housing, neighbourhoods, development and housing / community services, in Circle Anglia (then Circle 33), Hackney Council, Friendship Housing and Care, New Islington and Hackney HA and the London Borough of Newham.  She is, in her own words, ‘a people person’.

Before joining Metropolitan, Aniekan was Managing Director, South at Places for People. She is also a qualified Barrister, Lincoln’s Inn Field and a Corporate Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Aniekan has had a successful executive level career in both Local Government and Housing Association sectors. She has also worked in a voluntary capacity chairing Path (London), been on the board of large London housing association and is currently chair of The Forum, a leadership development and networking organisation for BME leaders in the sector.

Angela Epps – Development and Strategic Asset Management Director

Angela was appointed as Metropolitan Director of Development and Strategic Asset Management in June 2010.

After joining Metropolitan in 1994 as New Business Manager and securing successful bids for Edmonton, Canalside and Roundshaw regeneration schemes, Angela then led the delivery of the development and maintenance programme at Edmonton ‘Green Horizons’.

In 2002 Angela was appointed London Development Director and since 2007 she has consolidated Metropolitan’s regional teams into a single Metropolitan Development Service encompassing development, regeneration and strategic asset management to deliver over 5000 new homes in the last 5 years.

A qualified architect, she previously worked in both private and public practice; she has also been a Board member setting up a stock transfer Housing Association and a specialist housing provider.

Jon Maxwell – Regional Director (South)

Jon moved into the role of Metropolitan Regional Director (South) in June 2012, after a period as Regional Director (North). He has been part of the Metropolitan team since 2006 when he joined Granta as its Housing Operations Director.

After graduating, Jon worked as a Housing Trainee, before becoming a Housing Officer and moving on to be a Housing Manager. He is responsible for housing management in the South region. Jon is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has an MBA from Bournemouth University’s Business School.

Owen Thompson – Managing Director, Metropolitan Clapham Park

Owen was previously CEO of the Clapham Park Project. This was the first New Deal for Communities in London to achieve a successful transfer ballot and establish a community based housing association to deliver a £560m MasterPlan and physical transformation programme, which is now underway.

He has 20 years experience in the housing and regeneration sector; previously he was Chief Executive of Croydon Peoples Housing Association, the lead housing association in the delivery of the London Borough of Croydon’s community-focused single regeneration budget programme in 2001.

Bernie Conroy – Director of Home Ownership

Bernie has worked for Metropolitan’s home ownership division since 1989, starting as an administrative assistant on a temporary three month contract, working on a sales programme to help social tenants buy a home of their own. Follow-on positions included Discount Schemes Manager, Marketing Manager, Head of Sales and Marketing, Director of Sales and Marketing, becoming Managing Director in 2010. Bernie has an honours degree in History and Sociology and has gained a Chartered Institute of Marketing Diploma.

Bernie is currently on the Mayor of London’s Housing Board, the National Housing Federation’s national Home Ownership Advisory Panel and is Chair of the London Home Ownership Group. She has also acted as the chair of the marketing group of the Home Ownership Advisory Panel. Bernie is responsible for Metropolitan’s delivery of intermediate housing products.

Ann Gibbons – Interim Director of Care and Support

Ann joined Metropolitan as Interim Director of Care and Support in March 2013.

Ann joins Metropolitan from Anchor, where she was Regional Operations Director, leading the organisation’s northwest region through a period of transformation. In her last six months at Anchor, Ann was seconded into a position leading the four operating regions in the north and representing the Operations department on the Executive Management Board.

Starting her career as a waitress in hospitality and catering, Ann moved into management positions at the age of 23 for the Deep Pan Pizza Company, working at the management training branch and opening various restaurants in Europe. She then transferred her management skills to positions at John Smith’s and Whitbread breweries where she was involved in area management, brand launches and transformation projects. During her time with Whitbread, Ann attended the Disney Institute of Leadership in Florida, USA, where she worked to develop a bespoke leadership programme for the Brewsters brand.

From there, Ann moved into Financial Services, working in Area and Regional manager roles at Santander, Yorkshire Bank and Derbyshire Building Society. Her final role in the sector was as Head of Distribution Development where she worked to consolidate three different business practices in line with the parent company’s (Nationwide) expectations.