Riverside

About this year’s Stakeholder Strategy Day

Welcome to our 2024 Stakeholder Strategy Day. This is our annual conference for Board and Committee members, engaged customers, and senior colleagues and it comes at an important time for Riverside. We are at the half-way point in delivering ‘Forward Together’, our Corporate Plan, and it is a perfect opportunity to take stock, check we are on course and begin to think to the future.

There is a lot to reflect on. We have a new Government, who have put the building more homes at the heart of its growth agenda. It is also nearly six months since the Regulator of Social Housing introduced long-awaited changes to the consumer regulation regime. This is nothing short of a re-set in the relationship between customers and landlords, placing much greater emphasis on important issues such as transparency and respect.

To help us navigate this landscape, I am delighted to confirm that our keynote speaker will be Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman. As well as adjudicating the most serious complaints, Richard is a passionate advocate for customers, and is playing a key role in driving service improvements and best practice across the sector. We have asked him to focus on his recent spotlight report, “Attitudes, Respect and Rights”, where he has publicly challenged providers to create a “Relationship of Equals” with customers.

This is the first of our strategy days that we’ve ever held in London, and given our recent merger with One Housing, it is perhaps overdue. So, I have asked Jehan Weerasinghe, our Execuive Director for London to chair the day, and share some of the important work his teams are doing across the capital.

We’ve chosen a central and accessible venue, which is also a bit special – a conference facility close to the South Bank run by Coin Street Community Builders, who since the 1980s have transformed a derelict site into a vibrant diverse and welcoming place for people to live, work and play. I am sure it will be conducive to our discussions.

This webpage tells you all you need to know about the day. It provides practical details about travel and timings, which we will update as we get closer to the day. You might want to bookmark this page. I would be grateful if you would confirm your attendance by completing the RSVP form below by Thursday 10 October.

I very much look forward to welcoming you on the day.

Terrie Alafat CBE

Guest speakers

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman for England

Richard was appointed as Housing Ombudsman from 1 September 2019. He has extensive experience in the housing sector, with previous roles including Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, chair of the Homes for London board and a non-executive director of Homes England.

During his eight years at the Greater London Authority, Richard was responsible for housing investment and land generation programmes. He also led the creation of the first team at City Hall to address rough sleeping, commissioning around £10 million of services each year, as well as the first Social Impact Bond on homelessness.

Richard is a former board member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and has been an election observer in Somaliland and Ukraine. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the Administrative Justice Council.

Richard also chairs the Ombudsman Association and is a board member of the British Library.

Terrie Alafat, Group Chair

Terrie served as Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing from 2015 to 2019, and has a wealth of housing experience spanning over 23 years.

Her previous appointments include Director of Housing at the Department of Communities and Local Government where she was responsible for national housing polices including affordable housing, homelessness and supported housing.

Her wealth of knowledge of the housing sector and her work in shaping policy will be instrumental in continuing to take the Group forward as one of the country’s leading providers of housing and homelessness services.

Paul Dolan, Group Chief Executive

Paul has a successful track record in delivering transformational business and culture change. He is experienced in organisational turnarounds, taking businesses from positions of serious regulatory failure to full compliance.

Paul has led both not for profit and commercial businesses, and managed stakeholders through complex organisational change.

In 2019, he successfully led Accent to a record-breaking deal with the UK social housing sector’s lowest ever price on a long-dated public bond.

Paul created the #MorethanHomes campaign to raise £1m for the Trussell Trust. Backed by the National Housing Federation, Chartered Institute of Housing and the Northern Housing Consortium, More than Homes is an initiative established to build on the collective power of the housing sector, to respond to the economic crisis resulting from COVID-19.

Prior to his time with Accent, Paul was a former chief executive of Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust (JJHT) from February 2014 to April 2017, where he steered the organisation to financial stability, regulatory compliance and through a comprehensive reform of governance. He delivered JJHT’s new vision and provided the organisation with a clear purpose and a national voice for retirement living.

From 2010 to 2014, Paul was chief executive of Sadeh Lok Housing Group, leading the organisation through governance, organisational and cultural business transformation. This included reviewing the composition of this complex group, which included a national children’s charity and employment agency, establishing a new vision and business objectives which resulted in regulatory upgrades for viability and governance within 12 months. Paul went on to grow Sadeh Lok’s property portfolio by 7% within 18 months and secure the Investors in People Gold Standard.

Paul previously chaired the National Housing Federation Yorkshire and Humberside Region CEO group and has been appointed by the regulator as a statutory appointee to a non-compliant lease-based provider.

Prior to a number of senior housing management roles from 2002 to 2010, Paul won a scholarship to work as a chef for Raymond Blanc in 2002 at 2 Michelin star restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons

Jehan Weerasinghe, Managing Director of London

Jehan joined as Managing Director of One Housing and part of Riverside’s executive Team in September 2023. Prior to joining he worked for the Wheatley Group in Scotland where he held the role of Managing Director of Customer Experience. He was also MD of Wheatley Homes Glasgow for the bulk of his time at Wheatley, which is Scotland’s largest housing association (45,000 homes). Jehan worked for L&Q for over 16 years between 2002-19, where he held a number of roles relating to regeneration, mergers, stock transfers, operations and community investment. His last role at L&Q was Regional Operations Director. In his time at L&Q he was involved in the mergers of East Thames and Ujima.

Prior to his career in housing Jehan also worked for IBM Global Services Ltd and the Office for National Statistics. Jehan holds degrees in Sociology (University of Reading) and Comparative Social Policy (University of Oxford).

We’ll also hear from our senior leadership team on the day.

About the venue

We’re delighted to say this year we will be heading to Coin Street in London.

Located just a short walk from Waterloo, Southwark and Blackfriars stations.

Walking along the riverside by Oxo Tower Wharf, it’s hard to imagine that in the early 1980s the area was bleak and unloved, with few shops and restaurants, a dying residential community and a weak local economy.

That all changed thanks to an extraordinary campaign by local residents and supporters, which led to Coin Street’s purchase and redevelopment of a 13-acre site.

Now, the site is at the heart of a thriving neighbourhood with co-operative homes, parks and gardens, shops and design studios, galleries, restaurants, a family and children’s centre, sports pitches, and a range of community programmes and activities.

While the building is accessible, please let us know your requirements as early as possible on your RSVP form about any specific access requirements you have in advance, so we can help you on the day.

Getting there

Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre
Coin Street Community Builders,
108 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH

Travel details from the venue

Tube

Waterloo (Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern lines) 5 minutes walk
Southwark (Jubilee line) 7 minutes walk
Blackfriars (Circle and District lines) 5 minutes walk

Bus

Waterloo Station: 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 77, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 211, 243, 341, 381, 507, 521
Blackfriars Bridge: 45, 63, 100
Stamford Street: 381

Train

Blackfriars, Waterloo or Waterloo East

Bike

Bike racks are available for public use directly outside of the centre

Boat

Blackfriars Millennium pier or Festival pier.

Car

Coin Street do encourage travel by public transport, there is secure underground car parking adjacent to the centre if you prefer to drive.

If you do require help arranging travel, please contact your normal point of contact in Riverside or One Housing Group.

Travel details can be found on the Coin Street website.

We hope that most people will be able to travel to and from London on the day. If you do require overnight accommodation in the city, please contact your normal point of contact in Riverside or One Housing Group.