Governing Board

The LHA-ASRA Group is fully accountable to its customers; we put them at the heart of decision making.

The Group is governed by our board, which is made up of voluntary members drawn from across the local community, including tenants and individuals from within the business. While the day to day operation of the business is managed by paid staff, the board maintains ultimate control and responsibility for our work.

The Group Board has overall responsibility for strategic decision-making, including: policy, staffing, service standards, and budgeting.

The LHA-ASRA Group is supported by the following five committees:

Investment Committee
Risk & Audit Committee
HR & Remuneration Committee
Group Nominations Committee
Tenant Advisory Committee

Group Board

GROUP CHAIRMAN
Sadru Visram OBE

Sadru has over 20 years’ experience in the housing sector, and was former Finance Director of London & Quadrant Housing Trust. He runs Sprunt Solutions, which provides training and consultancy to the housing association sector, and is a board member of The Housing Finance Corporation.

DEPUTY CHAIR
Sally Jacobson

Formerly Group HR and Change Management Director at London and Quadrant Housing Trust until she recently retired. Under her tenure the Trust achieved the prestigious Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies ranking for the last 5 years. She is also a non executive Director of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and has more than 20 years experience in performance management and organisational development. Sally also Chairs the HR & Remuneration Committee.

GROUP TREASURER
Deepak Chandra

Leading on business planning and treasury management at Bedford Pilgrims HA, Deepak was previously FD of a venture capital group subsidiary, deputy chief executive of a housing association, and FD at three others. He brings over 15 years’ experience in social housing. Deepak also Chairs the Investment Committee.

Stephen Duck

Director of Finance at Daily Mail and General Trust plc subsidiaries Data and Motors Digital Divisions, since 2006. Prior to that, Stephen was Finance Director with nursing and residential care home operator Amocura. He has been involved in corporate planning, restructuring and change, and developing KPIs to measure progress towards goals. Stepthen chairs the board of The Peepul Centre.

Curtis Juman

Director of Finance at UK Trade and Investment. Curtis was previously Director of Financial Strategy and Director of Internal Audit at the DTI. Prior to that he was Assistant Director of Finance at the Office of Gas & Electricity Markets, and Senior Auditor at the National Audit Office. Curtis also Chairs the Risk & Audit Committee.

Elaine Conway

Elaine is a non-executive director on Nottinghamshire County NHS primary care trust and lecturer at Nottingham Business School.
Elaine is also a qualified accountant and is a fellow of the chartered institute of management accountants. She serves on both the governance and audit committees of the PTC. Elaine has a masters of business administration (MBA) from Duke university in the USA and is a member of both the chartered institute of management and chartered institute of marketing.

Shaama Saggar-Malik

A consultant specialising in organisational development, former Chief Officer for HR at LB Waltham Forest, and former Assistant Director of Social Services in LB Camden, Shaama is also a member of the Employment Tribunals London and of the National Clinical Assessment Authority. Shaama is the chair of the Tenant Advisory Committee.

David Ware

A Company Commercial Lawyer and Partner with Wake Smith and Tofields solicitors with specialisms in banking, corporate and finance law. He is a Director and Founding Member of Maxim Corporate Finance LLP. He is also a Trustee of the Home Union Foundation and a Chair of Bethany Village Leprosy Society. David also Chairs the Care & Support Services Board.

Jaffer Kapasi OBE

Jaffer Kapasi OBE has been chair of Asra Midlands for the past 18 years and is currently managing director of J A Kapasi & Co Limited. He is also the founder and director of the Leicestershire Asian Business Association, a director of HomeCome Limited and Wrekin Housing Trust, and a member of the Court of the University of Leicester. Jaffer has previously held non-executive directorships in the NHS Trust, HM Courts Board, Housing Ombudsman Board and Leicester Games 2009 Limited.

Amanda Males

Amanda Males has over 15 years experience of large scale capital and social regeneration schemes for housing and social services in Nottingham, including specialist provision for older people and children. She has also lived and worked overseas in both Africa and Asia, and has business interests in the private sector.