Our Board

Michael Rourke – Chair and Member of Governance & People Committee

Michael is a member of the Royal institution of Chartered Surveyors and has worked in the construction industry for over 40 years. He is currently the Director of Development and Sales for a London Registered Provider and has worked in the social housing sector for the past 5 years.

James Smith – Vice Chair and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

James grew up in West Wickham training as a chartered accountant with a firm in Bromley. His first professional involvement with Glebe was as one of the Association’s auditors in the late 1980s. James re- joined the Board in 2020 having taken early retirement from a commercial role in the rail industry.

Sobia Sheikh – Audit & Risk Committee (Co-optee)

Sobia graduated with degree in Economics and has 15 years’ experience working as a risk professional in the UK and abroad. Her experience spans various sectors including oil and gas, transportation, infrastructure, health, real estate and defence. Sobia has experience in a wide range of areas such as risk, governance, project management and operational efficiency. 

Perry Davies – Member of Governance & People Committee

Perry grew up in south London and, having joined a diamond company straight from school, he spent thirty years working for De Beers in a number of production, administration and HR roles in several countries in Europe and southern Africa. More recently, following a few years with a City brokerage, Perry spent twelve years as Services Manager with a London based Housing Association. His experience includes HR, process control, services, policy and governance disciplines.

Finlay Curror – Chair, Governance & People Committee

Fin has world in a variety of sectors over the past 25 years of his working career. He began his career in the Royal Marines where he was involved in operations in Iraq, the arctic and at sea. Since leaving the Marines, he has worked in high-end construction and technology services in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong and in the last 15 years, has been working at the executive level within the risk division of several large investment banks.

Nicolas Martin – Audit and Risk Committee Member

Nic has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry having worked in large banks and start-ups in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Nic has held a range of Executive and Non-Executive Board positions in both financial services and other industries, as well as being a trustee of several charities. Nic holds an MBA from Insead and brings extensive expertise in governance, risk management, financial planning, budget control, and compliance having been approved as an Executive Director of several regulated UK financial institutions.

Jinal Shah – Audit and Risk Committee Member

Jinal graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Economics. He started his career at BDO as an auditor with a wide array of cross sector experience including Housing Associations and Financial Services. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Jinal moved to pursue a career in Financial Services where he has spent over 20 years working in various roles within Finance (FP&A and Strategy being a specialism), COO and more recently Risk & Control.

Annabel Bird CIHCM

Annabel has over 20 years of experience working in housing and is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. She is currently working in housing management for a community led housing association in South London. Originally from the West Midlands she has been based in London since 2001. Annabel’s background in housing is in roles involving tenancy management, dealing with anti-social  behaviour, safeguarding and working with older residents.

Samantha Connell

Samantha has over 15 years of experience working in the housing sector, with seven of these years spent as Head of Sheltered Services for a Surrey based Housing Association. Samantha is currently Operations Director for a small London Housing Association, leading and overseeing on Housing Management, Resident Engagement and Asset Management.

Anna Bennett – Governance & People Committee

Anna has over 20 years experience as a solicitor and then Partner advising social landlords regarding tenancy and leasehold management, governance and regulation at a well respected specialist law firm. Prior to qualifying as a lawyer, Anna worked in training and events management for Visa International, and prior to that in project management roles for some small and well regarded charities.

Paul Jennings

Paul Jennings is a senior fire and safety professional with over 30 years’ experience in public safety, emergency response and organisational leadership. He previously served as Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety at the London Fire Brigade, where he led strategic fire safety and regulatory functions across London, including significant work following the Grenfell Tower fire. More recently, he held the role of Director of Fire & Rescue for Red Sea Global in Saudi Arabia, where he established and led a large-scale private fire and rescue service supporting major infrastructure and residential developments. Paul now works as an independent consultant specialising in fire safety, governance and organisational assurance. He is particularly interested in supporting strong governance, resident safety and community-focused services through his role with Glebe Housing Association.

Roger McDonald – Audit and Risk Committee Member

Roger has worked as a solicitor in the commercial property and development sector for more than three decades in leading law firms in the sector in the City of London and internationally. He has particular expertise in the financing and management of hotel and leisure property as well as a keen interest in the governance of pension funds. Most recently he has been involved in legal education, training young lawyers in the finer points of property law.