Meet some of our colleagues
We've got a fab bunch of colleagues and we want you to get to know them!
Clare Vernon
Tenancy Coach
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
20 years! I joined as the Housing Trainee as part of my Housing Studies degree at Sheffield Hallam as the 3rd year included working in the sector.
How do you achieve success in your role?
As a Tenancy Coach, I discuss what goals the customer wishes to achieve from the coaching. The overall aim is to assist them in achieving their goals, whether that be improving their finances or improving their wellbeing, no two cases are the same. So, success for me is closing the case and knowing I’ve made a difference to that customers’ life.
Clare Vernon
Tenancy Coach
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Never to assume, always ask, clarify and get the facts right.
What do you love the most about what you do?
Talking to customers to help try and find solutions to difficult circumstances and empowering them to make the right changes for themselves.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I've flown a plane!
Emma Standing
Tenancy Enforcement Officer
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I have been with Yorkshire Housing for nearly 7 years. I came here on an agency contract as a temporary Neighbourhood Officer after taking redundancy from another housing association. What was then the ‘ASB officer’ role came up and I applied and got the job!
How do you achieve success in your role?
By constantly learning. You never know it all or have seen it all in this type of work, so it’s important to keep yourself up to date with what’s going on in the law. I also do this by sharing good practice, whether that be internally or externally and making connections with other housing professionals. LinkedIn is great for this, and I’ve found people on there who now help us with our mediation service and apps that we’ve introduced to customers to help manage cases. I also found my ‘other job’ which is an Associate Trainer for Janine Green ASB, I deliver external training for her on all things ASB. This keeps me interested in my work with Yorkshire Housing and I’m grateful that they supported me with getting a training qualification so that I could look to get into the field of training.
Emma Standing
Tenancy Enforcement Officer
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
‘Be your biggest advocate’ this came from a mentor I had a few years ago which for me means to reflect on the things I do and say, that there is nothing wrong with sharing your successes and don’t rush into decisions about things especially about my own career and comparing this to others around me. That things will fall into place if you believe in your own brand.
What do you love the most about what you do?
What I love the most is that you never know what that next investigation is going to look like, it keeps you on your toes and you can never apply the same approach to every case because every person you deal with is different. It is a challenging role; it can be hard on you at times and occasionally you must hear and see upsetting things but the results we get for our customers are amazing. Also, I am lucky that the team I work with are so talented and professional and that really helps!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I went to Las Vegas for my 40th birthday as a surprise and little did I know that my boyfriend had planned for us to get married there, which we did on my birthday!
Gary Wardle
Customer Independence Officer
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I've been here for just over 3 years, working in the customer experience centre and repairs team, before becoming a Customer Independence Officer for supported housing in May 2022.
How do you achieve success in your role?
I like to know the ins and outs of everything. If someone comes to me with something I don’t know, I’ll make it my aim to go away and learn about it, in case I need to deal with that type of query or situation again.
Gary Wardle
Customer Independence Officer
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Believe in yourself!
What do you love the most about what you do?
My current role within supported housing brings up many unexpected obstacles. It’s all about thinking on your feet and coming up with solutions to assist vulnerable customers. It’s very rewarding being able to see the positive impact our actions can have for both our support providers and customers.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
Throughout my childhood and early adult life, I used to regularly compete around the UK at cross country, as well as show jumping competitions with my horse Zena.
Hannah Lynch
People and Culture Advisor
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I'm a people and culture advisor and joined on the first day of lockdown in 2020! It was a weird start to a new job especially as my first day was working from home - which I'd never done before. I joined as I was previously working for an autism charity in Nottingham but was moving up to York and didn’t fancy the commute.
How do you achieve success in your role?
By having clear communication with my internal customers. Microsoft Teams is great but sometimes it’s much easier just picking up my work mobile and ringing someone!
Hannah Lynch
People and Culture Advisor
What is the best advice you've ever received?
Always google for discount codes before buying something online!
What do you love the most about what you do?
I love the variety of my role – no two days are the same! I also enjoy supporting and empowering our managers to help them make sure their teams are thriving at work.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
My parents got married on a beach in Malibu and on the wedding day we bumped into James Garner. He was filming the Rockford Files and took some pics with us, so we have a wedding photo of me, my parents and a celeb! I was only a baby at the time so can’t remember much but it’s certainly my claim to fame.
Joe Suggitt
Customer Insight and Engagement Advisor
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
Almost 6 years now. I love Yorkshire and I’m passionate about social housing – seemed like the perfect place to work!
How do you achieve success in your role?
It’s my role to make sure we listen to the customer voice and shape services around their needs; plus making sure customers play a key role in the decision-making process through our wonderful customer voice and review committee.
Joe Suggitt
Customer Insight and Engagement Advisor
What is the best advice you've ever received?
Be yourself – everyone else is taken.
What do you love the most about what you do?
Our involved customers; they inspire me everyday with their passion and commitment to improving things for Yorkshire Housing.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
At 12, I was a GB gymnast ear marked for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney!
Marta Snopinska
Land Buyer
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I’ve been at Yorkshire Housing for 9 years. Before that, I had been working in the private housing sector for few years, but I really liked the idea of working for a non-profit organisation which makes a difference for people’s lives. So, when I got a job at Yorkshire Housing, I knew it was a move in the right direction.
How do you achieve success in your role?
Each of the project is different and comes with its own challenges so it’s important to be flexible and think of various solutions and negotiate. I work with many partners and agents so open communication is a key in forming good partnerships and managing projects. And finally, by knowledge sharing amongst our great team so we can support and learn from each other.
Marta Snopinska
Land Buyer
What is the best advice you've ever received?
Don’t put off your happiness, enjoy living your life every day.
What do you love the most about what you do?
I’m lucky to be working in Yorkshire and get to visit some beautiful parts of the county. Plus, seeing a completed scheme after spending months and months of working with plans and drawings and the feeling when customers get the keys to their new homes.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
A few years ago, I did a Himalayan trek in India and one night we had to camp in the snow. I’ve never been so cold but watching sunrise over snowy mountain tops was one of the most beautiful experiences.
Tom Oliver
Customer Independence Manager
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
Just over 3 years and due to wanting a change of scenery. I worked for a small housing association in a senior management position, but essentially was doing about 5-6 different roles. I joined to have the chance to just focus on one job role.
How do you achieve success in your role?
By having a team that hits targets, provides the best service to our customers and enjoy their work for Yorkshire Housing.
Tom Oliver
Customer Independence Manager
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
As a manager you should never ask someone to do something you’ve not done yourself. That or, if you’re buying a round of multiple pints, never take the one that was pulled first!
What do you love the most about what you do?
The team I work with – they're a great bunch of individuals.
Leanne Howson
Place Manager
What is your role and how do you achieve success?
I am a Place Manager which means managing all aspects of the customers tenancy including dealing with anti-social behaviour and lower-level complaints, safeguarding referrals, tenancy coaching referrals, mutual exchanges and everything in between you can think of! Knowing you have made a difference to someone, no matter how small is success to me.
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I joined Yorkshire Housing on 16th January this year and it's flown by already! The Place Manager job appealed to me because the role is so varied. I was attracted to working for Yorkshire Housing as I liked their values, and the colleagues I’ve met so far have been so friendly and helpful. I also love that there seem to be career opportunities and constant learning.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love that no two days are the same and speaking to our customers.
Leanne Howson
Place Manager
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Always be kind, you never know what someone else is going through – something I have passed onto my children.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
In my spare time I do a fair bit of photography, something I thoroughly enjoy. I get to travel through some beautiful scenery in Yorkshire too, photographers dream!
Christina Coates
Learning and Organisation Development Partner
What is your role and how do you achieve success?
I work with teams to support them with all their learning and development needs (everything from compliance job essential courses to management training), as well as culture change, values and behaviours, coaching, onboarding, wellbeing and much more! I currently work closest with our Homes and Places, Governance Risk and Assurance, and Technology Innovation and Change teams. I achieve success by building relationships with those in my business areas and communicating well with the people I work closely with about what’s going on.
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I’ve been here since April 2021, so around 2 years which has flown by! I joined Yorkshire Housing because the role sounded really exciting, I loved the values when I read about them on our website as they align with my own, and I was up for the challenge of learning all about a new sector, after working for StepChange Debt Charity for many years previously.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love it when I can help to make a positive change and see a difference. I love listening to how colleagues are feeling, so I can influence how we can make improvements.
Christina Coates
Learning and Organisation Development Partner
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Whenever I would get stressed or wound up, my Dad used to say in a silly voice “Keep on chilling out…”. He passed away in November, but whenever I feel stressed I always think of him saying that to me as life’s too short to be wound up over silly things 😊
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I don’t have a fun fact really… but I have a cockapoo called Kalvin who I love so much but he is cheeky and loves attention. I'm also planning my wedding for June 2024 – so those two things are occupying my life outside of work right now!
Mathew
Plumber
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I've been with Yorkshire Housing for over 10 years now. I started as an apprentice joiner and was keen to develop and learn new skills.
How do you achieve success in your role?
By working to the best of my abilities, making sure I know the job is done right first time. For me it's about receiving great feedback from customers, it means a lot!
What do you love most about what you do?
It has to be the variety types of jobs keeping me on my toes - as I'm open to learning new things everyday.
Mathew
Plumber
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Listen more than you speak and treat people how you want to be treated.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I run 5k every morning before I start work. I'm training for my first marathon so it has to be done!
Chris Dixon
Electrical Technical Coach
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I’ve been with Yorkshire Housing 1 year and 5 months. I’ve always been interested in using my skills, knowledge, and experience to support people who may be in challenging circumstances, instead of using them for the main purpose of making profits. I also have a young family and needed steady working hours to be able to manage both my work commitments and my home life. I saw that Yorkshire Housing was an organisation with core values and a strong vision to deliver an exceptional service in the social housing sector. They also have strong values regarding their employees and their families. Yorkshire Housing seemed like the perfect organisation to join to fulfil these needs, and also have a progression ladder to further myself and my career, all with knowing that the work that I do is making a difference to the quality of life for others.
What do you do and how do you achieve success in your role?
I support the team and ensure they’re delivering safety and compliance. Working with the tech coach team I give them support, technical advice, guidance, and continuous development training. This to me is a very important part of the role, not only to create trust but helps our teams know they are supported and improve their knowledge to become better engineers. As a Tech Coach I also quality check our new build sites to ensure our new properties are the best they can be. I conduct lighting quotations visits to upgrade our properties to be safe and more efficient. In some circumstances I may be required to deal with customer complaints and find a resolution. I also support the wider team to continuously develop our systems and processes making them more efficient to make it happen and achieve impact. Success in my role is achieved through our meeting our key performance indicators on team performance and compliance. The team have the knowledge and support to deliver their roles effectively and delivering the best possible service to our customers. On the whole our team support the wider organisation in delivering the business strategy.
What do you love most about what you do?
My job is so interesting and “everyday is a school day”! I’m encouraged to further develop my knowledge and the knowledge of others. I love the fact that the work I do is making a positive difference to my colleagues and our customers and achieving impact. I really enjoy working with my team they are supportive, honest, and fun.
Chris Dixon
Electrical Technical Coach
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
To always be honest and trust worthy, be confident in what you know but never be afraid to speak up when you are unsure. There are no points for pride.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
My nose was broken 3 separate times playing tennis and badminton, twice the former and one the latter. In all instances it was by accident and by the same doubles partner, let's just say we stopped playing together after the third occasion. Perhaps not so "fun"!
Phil
Electrical Team Leader
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I have been at Yorkshire Housing for 9 years in August. I started as an Electrician, moved up to the Tech Coach role then the Team Leader role I am in now. I joined because it looked like a good place to work and the fact I am still here 9 years later says it all.
How do you achieve success in your role?
I am an Electrical Team Leader on the Electrical and Facilities Services Team. I currently look after the Facilities Team, who are tasked with emergency lighting tests, Electrical equipment testing, Health and safety checks and fire alarms checks. I’m here to ensure my team has everything they need for their job so they can carrying it out safely and efficiently and ensure all our checks and tests stay within the compliance date. There are 3 other electrical team leaders who look after fixed wire testing, reactive and voids, Planned Heating and lighting and commercial testing. On top of our own day to day roles we deputise for each other.
What do you love most about what you do?
I love the variety. Each day is different.
Phil
Electrical Team Leader
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
If it isn't written down, it didn't happen.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I enjoy going snowboarding! 😊
Josh Bullamore
Facilities Maintenance Operative
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I'm coming up to two years at Yorkshire Housing and I joined because there was a role going that I thought would suit me and would allow me to grow.
What do you get up to in your role?
I ensure lights are working in communal areas and carry out repairs when needed. I also test fire alarms, smoke detectors, and carry out PAT tests to ensure customer safety in their homes.
What do you love most about what you do?
The people I work alongside are great, and I enjoy driving to parts of Yorkshire I never would've before.
Josh Bullamore
Facilities Maintenance Operative
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Never trust an electrician with no eyebrows 😂
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I made a rap beat for an Emmy nominated rapper. It went on his 2021 album!
Phil Davies
Gas Engineer
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I've worked here for 7 years in total. I started as a sub-contractor and after 6 months gained a full-time role. I remember at the time just before joining, it was talked amongst gas engineers at local merchants and online platforms that Yorkshire Housing was a place elite gas engineers worked at. So, it intrigued me to try get on board! I went through interview processes and also rigorous auditing to finally get approved. I made it to the top and haven't looked back.
How do you achieve success in your role?
For me success is working towards your dreams and goals. So I've already achieved success working as a gas engineer at Yorkshire Housing.
What do you love most about what you do?
One answer isn't easy, so here's a few! The workload is realistic. The Solid technical advice available to engineers is another level. Knowing I've achieved things through the working day. The customers are great and the smiles they have after providing a great all-round service, makes me very happy.
Phil Davies
Gas Engineer
What is the best advice you've ever received?
Rather than looking at what you want, look at what you already have.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I absolutely LOVE cooking!👨🍳
Andy Kelham
Planned Investment Delivery Manager
How long have you been with Yorkshire Housing and why did you join?
I joined Yorkshire Housing in 2000 due to a relocation from my home City of Leicester to Harrogate. (One of my better decisions in life!).
How do you achieve success in your role?
Success is built working with an excellent team and being able to support each other through the good and bad times.
What do you love most about what you do?
Delivering major refurbishment works to customers’ homes. It’s always nice to fit a new kitchen and bathroom for a customer and then seeing how pleased they are with the finished result.
Andy Kelham
Planned Investment Delivery Manager
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Never accept anything you wouldn’t accept yourself.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I love to play golf, go on plenty of holidays and enjoy Indian food. Not forgetting my 4 grandchildren!
Find out more
So now you’ve met some our colleagues, you might be keen to find out more about us, how we’re governed and our latest news.