Chief Executive wins top national award

Friday 19th June 2009

The “unsung heroes” of the housing world were honoured at a glittering awards ceremony in London on 10 June, hosted by Michael Portillo.

Ron Dougan of Trent & Dove Housing was the winner of the National Chief Executive of the Year award, beating stiff competition from around the country. The lunchtime awards ceremony was organised by Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing and was attended by more than 700 people from right across the UK.

The Editor of Inside Housing, Stuart Macdonald, said: “The housing sector is characterised by the commitment, passion and flair of the people who work in it. They are dedicated, innovative and creative individuals and teams. And that’s why we launched these awards — to shine the spotlight on those “unsung heroes” of the housing world, so others can learn from them. I was amazed by the number of entries we received — over 300 — and the overall calibre. The standard was really high and I was amazed at the compassion and commitment shown by our winners.”

The event was sponsored by Campbell Tickell, Insight, CSCS and Tribal. and supported by a number of other leading organisations from across the housing sector.

Guests gathered for the celebrations at the prestigious London Hilton Hotel on Park Lane and enjoyed a terrific big screen presentation. The President of the Chartered Institute of Housing, Steve Benson, also addressed the audience.

The judges included some the most respected people in the industry, including Roy Irwin, the Chief Inspector of Housing at the Audit Commission, Elizabeth Sealey from the Communities & Local Government department, Imelda McGrath from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the head of social housing finance at Barclays, Steve Amos.

Presenting Ron with the award, Michael Portillo said that ‘the Panel of Judges had been blown away by his achievements’.

Ron Dougan said ‘this is the highest accolade that a Chief Executive can receive in the housing sector. I’d like to publicly thank John Jackson and the Trent & Dove Board, our brilliant team of staff and particularly Malcolm Wardle of our Residents Federation and the many tenants and residents who work with us to transform homes, lives and neighbourhoods.

I started my career in housing when I was a council tenant in Liverpool. Starting at the very bottom, over nearly thirty years I have worked hard and reached Chief Executive level. If I can do this, I would encourage other housing association and council tenants to consider a career in housing.’

This comes hot on the heels of our Board Vice Chairman, Keith Lemare recently being awarded Midlands Housing Hero of the year at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Presidential Awards — another major accolade for all of us at Trent & Dove.

The finance team at Trent & Dove was also a finalist in this year's awards.

Posted by Kim for Trent & Dove Housing Ltd.