Rudy Agnihotri is Director of Strategy and Innovation at the Energy Specifics Group, with over 15 years’ experience across housing, construction and energy efficiency. He has supported major retrofit and decarbonisation programmes across thousands of homes, working with social landlords, local authorities and leading contractors. Rudy leads the development of PowerAsset, a housing intelligence service bringing together property, energy, condition, climate and investment data. His focus is on using data, digital twins and AI to help housing organisations turn fragmented information into actionable insight, enabling smarter investment decisions, more efficient programmes and better outcomes for residents.

Mathew founded Echelon Consultancy in 2005, followed several years later by Pretium Frameworks, Echelon Improvement Partnerships and more recently Quantum Training and joint venture E2EX.  

He has over 28 years’ experience in the development and delivery of asset management and associated projects within the affordable housing sector as a client, contractor, and consultant. 

He blends his entrepreneurial role of developing the Echelon Group, with an active project lead role within Echelon Consultancy, maintaining an intimate knowledge of the issues facing the sector and remaining accessible to clients. 

He has built a reputation for developing innovative delivery models and goes out into the sector to share best practice, speaking regularly at industry events and delivering training. Mathew devotes much of his spare time to housing-related causes, as a trustee of the Construction Youth Trust, and Herts Young Homeless, which focuses on preventing homelessness. 

Rowena brings over 10 years of experience in social housing and housing strategy working on government funded programmes. She leads the organisation’s energy efficiency agenda, driving initiatives that reduce carbon emissions, lower energy costs and enhance residents’ wellbeing. Passionate about sustainable communities, Rowena is dedicated to ensuring homes remain safe, affordable and fit for future generations. 

Claire Elston is People Development Manager at Ian Williams. She leads the team responsible for learning and development, working closely with managers and frontline teams, Claire helps ensure colleagues have the skills, knowledge and support they need to deliver great services for customers. With many years’ experience in HR management, she has led a range of initiatives focused on improving professional competence, leadership capability and employee development within operational environments. Her work spans leadership development, professional qualifications, recruitment, compliance training and building effective learning solutions that support both individuals and the wider business.

Denise joined Phoenix Community Housing as Chief Executive in February 2022. She was previously the Chief Executive of Women’s Pioneer Housing and before that was the Housing Ombudsman for England. In her earlier career she held a number of senior legal positions in government. Denise grew up in south London and continues to live locally. She is passionate about Phoenix’s resident-led model and determined to ensure that we work together to build a better future for our community. Denise is the co-founder of the Women’s Housing Forum, which seeks to raise awareness of the links between women’s housing needs and gender inequality. 

Helen Francis is an experienced construction and social housing professional with over 20 years’ expertise in business development, strategic growth and securing multi-million-pound contracts. Now Business Owner and Director at Skills Solutions Group, Helen is passionate about tackling the construction skills gap through high-quality training, qualifications and workforce development. She works closely with contractors, housing providers and industry partners to strengthen competence, compliance and capability across the sector. With extensive experience of leadership, client relationships and sustainable business growth, Helen is committed to creating opportunities, delivering meaningful social value and helping build a safer, stronger and more highly skilled construction workforce.

Lorraine Gray is Head of Investment at mhs homes Ltd, a housing association based in Kent, managing around 10,000 homes across Medway, Dartford, Gravesham, and Tonbridge and Malling. She leads the delivery of the organisation’s planned investment programme, with an annual budget of approximately £18 million.

Lorraine has worked in the housing sector for over three years, following a career in the retail industry. Alongside the planned investment programme, she leads the delivery of mhs homes’ Wave 3 Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) programme, supporting the organisation’s commitment to improving the energy efficiency of its homes and delivering better outcomes for residents.

She has also overseen the procurement of two new contractors, enabling mhs homes to take a more holistic and integrated approach to planned works. By aligning component replacement programmes, the organisation aims to improve the resident experience, reduce disruption and deliver greater value for money.

Judy Hegarty is Managing Director of Fortem, a specialist integrated asset and property solutions provider working solely in the social housing sector. Judy joined Fortem in 2007 after working at Willmott Dixon, progressing through senior finance and leadership roles before becoming Managing Director in 2025. She is focused on responsible growth for Fortem across its core workstreams of repairs and maintenance, capital works, building safety and retrofit, but more importantly, on understanding and embedding the resident experience and voice into Fortem’s services. Earlier this year, she proudly launched the Customer Partnership Board, demonstrating her commitment to ensuring residents help shape service delivery. 

Aaron is responsible for the day-to-day running and strategic direction of Echelon Consultancy, working alongside group CEO Mathew Baxter, and directors Sharon Hunt and Jessica John to lead the Echelon Group. 

Aaron, who has over 20 years’ experience in asset and facilities management as a client, contractor, and consultant, has a diverse role across the operational aspect of the business, leading project teams on options appraisals, business review and transformation projects, and procurement processes. 

He has led on the procurement of a wide range of works, services and supplies related to managing assets and estates; both under long-term strategic arrangements and short-term emergency contracts.  

He conducts reviews of operational delivery models, with a view to moulding them into procurement models and supports organisations through change management and service improvement programmes. Aaron is also a certified Thomas International Practitioner. 

Jess leads on the strategic direction of Echelon Group business Pretium Frameworks. 

Founded in 2015, it manages an ever-growing suite of frameworks, two of which are in their third generation, on behalf of various housing provider Contracting Authorities.  

These cover services including fleet services, building and fire safety, consultancy services, decarbonisation delivery, materials supply and managed services, and all stages of the development process. 

Jess also manages Pretium’s development pipeline to ensure that the business continues to grow and add there are plans in the pipeline to launch two new frameworks this year, and several more across 2026. 

She works closely with Contracting Authorities, clients and suppliers acting as a bridge between all three parties, helping to develop strong relationships, supporting clients to secure compliant procurement routes and ensuring that the frameworks deliver for all parties

Mark is Senior Partner at Devonshires and leads the Construction, Engineering and Procurement team. Mark specialises in dispute resolution work which involves litigation in the Technology and Construction Court, adjudication and arbitration. Mark advises clients on all aspects of procurement law and regularly acts for contracting authorities and economic operators in procurement disputes. Mark also advises on the significant changes in law and practice brought about by the Building Safety Act and its attendant regulations including the Building Regulations and fire safety regulation. He also has experience advising clients on health and safety law and assists with accident investigations, prosecutions and drafting health and safety policies and procedures. Mark is ranked as a leading construction lawyer and in recent editions of the legal directories has been described as “extremely knowledgeable and reassuringly experienced”. 

Working to decarbonise social housing stock for over five years, Ethan has been involved in all stages of the SHDF/WH:SHF programme as well as projects across Scotland. Retrofitting over 4,000 social housing properties since Sanctuary’s first SHDF programme, the progress that Sanctuary has achieved during this time is fantastic! However, Sanctuary recognises that as one of the nation’s largest social housing providers, there’s still lots of work to do to meet its Net Zero targets.

Ethan is looking forward to continuing the great work that Sanctuary has achieved up to this point and welcomes the chance to share some of his learnings and best-practices with everyone during the Echelon Conference.

Jenny Osbourne is Chief Executive at Tpas – the tenant engagement experts – and has been in this role since 2014. Her previous role was Head of Corporate Services with specific responsibility for membership and governance matters. 

She is an English Graduate from Leeds University. Prior to working for Tpas Jenny worked for the Post Office on their management programme in the branch network. 

Jenny sits on various steering groups and panels across MHCLG, Regulator of Social Housing and others across the sector. 

Jenny is passionate about the tenant engagement agenda and is a strong advocate for effective partnership working between tenants, providers, contractors and government. 

Nikkie Pullen is Head of Organisational Development at Abri, one of the UK’s largest housing associations. 

She leads work on organisational development, leadership capability, professional standards and workforce development, helping ensure colleagues have the skills, knowledge, behaviours and experience needed to deliver excellent services to residents. 

Nikkie has led Abri’s preparation for the Competence and Conduct Standard, including the development of professionalism policies, assurance arrangements and sector-leading approaches to workforce capability. A recognised voice on professionalism in housing, she regularly shares practical insights on embedding culture, competence and customer-focused behaviours across organisations. 

Mark Ridge is Group Procurement Manager at Sanctuary, where he has led procurement for construction, development, and major investment programmes for the past 11 years. He specialises in designing innovative procurement solutions that support the delivery of complex new-build housing and asset investment projects.

Mark led Sanctuary’s procurement involvement in the pioneering Greener Future Partnerships Decarbonisation Framework and has recently strengthened strategic partnerships with Echelon through the award of the AMPSS Framework.

Before joining Sanctuary, Mark spent more than 25 years in local government, working in construction auditing, housing, and construction procurement leadership roles.

A passionate advocate for social value, Mark is particularly interested in how procurement can drive positive community outcomes while responding to market challenges, sustainability ambitions, and the opportunities presented by the Procurement Act 2023.

Jon Slade is a Director with Campbell Tickell. Jon leads on a range of issues for CT including Consumer regulation, Customer Voices, Customer Service, Transformation, Operations, Asset Management and Compliance for housing associations and councils.

Jon’s work includes preparing for inspection, service improvement following downgrades and coaching on how to manage relationships with the regulator. Campbell Tickell have been delivering work relating to the current model of regulation since its inception over 10 years ago and have worked with hundreds of registered providers and local authorities on matters relating to regulation over that period.

Tom Symes is Sustainability Manager at Hyde, where he leads retrofit delivery and is responsible for sustainability strategy, carbon reporting, and environmental performance across the organisation. Prior to joining Hyde, Tom spent two years at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, managing the delivery of government-funded energy efficiency programmes, including the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Demonstrator, Wave 1 and Wave 2 projects. With experience spanning both local government and the housing sector, Tom specialises in delivering large-scale retrofit programmes that improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and support the transition to net zero.

Gavin joined the board of Phoenix Community Housing in 2023 after becoming an involved resident and studying with the Phoenix Academy. He was appointed as Chair in October 2026. After gaining in-depth knowledge of the sector through Phoenix’s school of social housing, where he is studying for a Chartered Institute of Housing Level 5 qualification, Gavin has found his passion for resident voice and engagement. As an advocate of Phoenix’s resident-led model, Gavin is keen to see similar approaches adopted across the sector. 

Following his studies at Northumbria University, Cameron has built four years of experience within the social housing retrofit sector, initially working for a principal contractor before joining Anchor Housing.

He is passionate about making a positive difference for Anchor’s residents, the environment, and the wider retrofit sector. Through leading the technical delivery of retrofit projects, he aims to reduce residents’ energy bills and carbon emissions while improving the energy efficiency and performance of their homes.

He particularly enjoys the detailed and varied nature of retrofit, which provides opportunities to collaborate with a wide range of key stakeholders and tackle new and interesting challenges each day.

Ross specialises in legal compliance, assurance, and risk management across housing services. He has played a key role in preparing Clarion for Awaab’s Law, helping colleagues understand the organisation’s responsibilities, assessing operational readiness, and translating regulatory requirements into practical, effective processes. His work combines detailed audit insight with a clear focus on resident safety, service quality, and continuous improvement. Ross is passionate about making a meaningful difference and creating a positive, lasting impact for Clarion’s residents. He aims to strengthen compliance, improve accountability and support safer, more responsive services across Clarion’s communities nationwide.

Annabel is a Senior Sustainability Consultant at Turner & Townsend working as a Delivery Support Manager for the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund programme.

In this role, Annabel supports housing providers to deliver retrofit projects whilst navigating complex funding, compliance and reporting requirements. Annabel works with grant recipients managing over £85 million of funding to improve the energy performance of almost 7,000 homes. She enjoys working closely with a range of grant recipients and bridging the gap between their tangible project delivery and the compliance and reporting requirements.

With previous experience in defence transformation, environmental consultancy and programme management, she brings a broad perspective on delivering complex change at scale.