Sovereign's management board and various committees meet regularly to decide how various aspects of the business should be run. However, the Board has overall responsibility for all of our activities and it comprises members with a range of skills including finance, house building, PR and general business management. The Board is responsible for directing and monitoring our work so that we act properly and effectively and meet our strategic objectives.
The day-to-day management of Sovereign is led by the Senior Management Team and its members are:
Ann Santry - Chief Executive
Ann Santry was appointed Chief Executive of Sovereign in November 1999. She has worked in housing since 1980 and prior to joining Sovereign was Chief Executive of the Swaythling Housing Society in Southampton. Other posts have included Development Director for the Guinness Trust and development roles for Notting Hill and Newlon Housing Trusts in London.
Ann is Vice Chair of the National Housing Federation (NHF).
Jonathan Cowie - Chief Operating Officer
Jonathan Cowie has an excellent career record in improving efficiencies and developing new initiatives in large scale organisations. He was previously a Director at Cable and Wireless, with responsibility for over 3000 Global Corporate customers. He also led their service operations in the UK, Europe and India. Jonathan has over 20 years experience in Customer Services across the residential and business sectors, including leading the delivery of service online for over 20 million UK customers, and delivering new service standards in the financial services sector.
Phil Stephens - Development and Commercial Director
Phil Stephens has 25 years experience in the private housing sector in which time he has built up extensive contacts in the south east and south west. He started out as a quantity surveyor in 1974 and has worked for Maxim Homes. He has also been a director at Wilmott Dixon Housing.
Phil joined Sovereign in 2003 as Head of New Business, and was promoted to Development Director in 2006. He now leads the 65 strong team comprising development, asset management, architects and home ownership. Phil is in charge of delivering 900 new homes a year on behalf of the four Sovereign subsidiaries, plus two smaller associations we build on behalf of.
Martin Huckerby - Finance Director
Martin Huckerby trained in local government and worked in local authorities before becoming Deputy Finance Director for Newbury District Council in 1985. He is a qualified accountant (CIPFA).
He was involved in the successful stock transfer of 7,000 homes from Newbury District Council to West Berkshire Housing Association (now Sovereign South+West) in 1989 as Finance Director. He became the Group Finance Director in 2005. His portfolio now covers IT and Governance as well as Finance.
Heather Bowman - Housing and Communities Director
Heather Bowman joined Sovereign in early 2001 as Head of Supported Housing, following a career in housing spanning nearly 25 years. She has been a Regional Director for Stonham within the Home Group and has worked for a range of organisations including a small voluntary agency.
Progressing to Divisional Director (Projects) in early 2007, Heather has led a range of service areas including housing management, leasehold and shared ownership, neighbourhood investment and resident involvement. In preparation for the amalgamation of Sovereign with Wessex Housing Partnership in the autumn of 2008, Heather was seconded to Hampshire Voluntary Housing Services a subsidiary of Wessex, as the interim Managing Director, returning to Sovereign South+West as Managing Director in autumn 2009. Heather became Housing and Communities Director in 2011, following Sovereign’s restructure into one organisation.
Lynn Hanford-Day - People and Organisational Development DirectorLynn comes to Sovereign with 20 years experience in HR, having worked in variety of sectors including technology, financial services and vehicle leasing. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Lynn joined Sovereign in February 2008 as HR Director, and is responsible for HR across the business, as well as all training and development. One of her first tasks is to create an HR strategy that supports our change, growth and development.
Lynn is passionate about nurturing talent and maximising the capability of the organisation. She is a qualified coach and spent a short time running her own consultancy as an organisational coach. Lynn is determined to make the organisation a great place to work so that we attract and retain the right people to help us achieve our business goals.
