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20 September 2021

Yorkshire Housing appoints new Chair to oversee ambitious investment plans

Yorkshire Housing is delighted to announce the appointment of Ingrid Fife as its next Chair.

She succeeds outgoing Chair Will Lifford, when he steps down at the AGM in September following the end of his term.

She is joined by three other new board members who bring a wealth of experience from the business world – Russell Galley, Ian Costigan and Ellie Stead.

The board will oversee the delivery of Yorkshire Housing’s ambitious plans. This includes building 8,000 new homes by 2030 so thousands more people have a place they’re proud to call home.  There will also be a continued strong focus on investing in existing homes, offering more support to the customers who need it most, building a workplace of the future and investing in green technology.

 Ingrid has worked in the commercial, housing and health sectors. She has a strong understanding of social housing, serving on the board of Riverside and previously as Chair of Halton Housing and Vice Chair at Regenda. 

She said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have been appointed as the next Chair of Yorkshire Housing and thank my fellow board members for their support. I’d like to thank Will for the incredible contribution he has made during his tenure, and I look forward to continuing his excellent work.’

Outgoing Chair, Will Lifford, added “ Looking back over the past five years, it gives me a great sense of pride to see how Yorkshire Housing has developed and in particular has responded to the challenges of the past 18 months.  It has an ambitious strategy to grow and develop further over the coming years, and I’m delighted that Ingrid is taking over from me to lead the Board at this time.” 

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Housing, welcomed the appointment and said “Ingrid will undoubtedly help Yorkshire Housing deliver the exciting but challenging vision in its Business Strategy over the coming years.’

He added: “I’d also like to express my huge thanks to Will Lifford for the impact he has made as Chair over the past five years. It has been a pleasure working closely with him during my two years at Yorkshire Housing. The organisation has moved forward at pace in recent years and Will has played a pivotal role in this.”

Russell Galley is the Managing Director at Halifax Bank. He leads a team of 12,500 people serving over 16 million customers. He has extensive experience of creating major customer experience improvements through digital innovation and in leading highly engaged teams in a complex regulatory environment.

Ellie Stead has over 30 years’ of experience in financial services, cards and payments. She was most recently the Senior Vice President for Client Business Operations at TSYS International, a leading global payments provider.

Ian is currently the Group Asset Management Director at Manchester Airports Group (MAG). Previously he was the Transformation Director for a significant investment programme at Manchester Airport.