Our board and committee members

David Jepson - Chair of the Board

David has over 30 years’ experience of social housing starting his career with new build housing co-operatives in Liverpool. He has had over 16 years’ experience in senior management including as deputy chief executive at Riverside and as chief executive in a number of other organisations.

He has wide experience of governance, urban regeneration, private finance initiatives, stock transfers, mergers and the establishment of commercial ventures.

Paul Diggory - Senior Independent Director

Paul was Chief Executive with North Wales Housing from 2000 to 2016 and President of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) from 2007-2008. He is current Chair of the CIH Cymru Board and a member of the CIH Governing Body.

An External Examiner at the University of Ulster from 2012-15 and a member of Housing Partnership UK from 2014-16, Paul has spoken at housing events throughout the UK and internationally.

Yasmin Fearon - Board Member

Yasmin has worked in social housing for over 30 years for national housing regeneration agencies in both investment and regulation roles.

She has worked with both housing associations and local authorities to deliver affordable housing projects in the North West and delivered national programmes including Decent Homes.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing and carries out a number of non-executive board roles.

Eric Hughes - Board Member and Chair of Governance & Remuneration Committee

Eric is a qualified youth and community development worker and has held a number of executive and non-executive roles in charities, housing and local government. His experience covers a range of projects and initiatives including Private Finance Initiatives, mergers, corporate restructuring projects, governance and stakeholder engagement.

Eric is passionate about providing homes for people while ensuring the social, environmental and economic well-being of the neighbourhoods in which they live.

Danielle James - Board Member and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

Danielle is Head of Financial Accounting at Riverside Housing.

Prior to this, she was Finance Director for Liverpool John Lennon Airport having joined them in 2012 as a Financial Planning Manager. 

She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and qualified Financial Analyst who graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class degree in Law.

Paul McGerty - Board Member

Paul is a chartered accountant who has operated his own accountancy practice for over 20 years.

Paul has been an equity partner, a risk adviser for an insurance company and the chief finance and reporting officer for Everton FC. At Everton he oversaw the development and running of their free school, charity hub and lotteries programme, as well being involved in their academy funding and recruitment model.

Outside of work, Paul lives in Calderstones with his family and is a keen Everton supporter and season ticket holder.

Graham Pink - Board Member

Previously Chief Executive of Liverpool and Sefton Health Partnerships, Graham is currently Director of Commissioning and Commercial Management at Cheshire West and Chester Council where he is responsible for delivering large regeneration schemes and managing the council's large contracts.

He was formerly Project Director of Liverpool Land Development Company and the Speke Garston Development Company, which led the economic regeneration of South Liverpool under the European Objective One Programme.

Jamal Wahid - Co-Optee

Jamal has lived in Garston for over 40 years. He joined scrutiny panel in 2014 and was elected as chair by his peers, a role he held for three years. Jamal came to the UK as a student in 1970 to be a merchant navy officer.

After nine years he left the navy and joined Ford where he worked for 31 years. He is the current vice-chair of Malaysian House Ltd, a charity foundation in Liverpool.

Danielle James - Board Member and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

Danielle is Head of Financial Accounting at Riverside Housing.

Prior to this, she was Finance Director for Liverpool John Lennon Airport having joined them in 2012 as a Financial Planning Manager. 

She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and qualified Financial Analyst who graduated from the University of Liverpool with a first class degree in Law.

Eric Hughes - Board Member and Chair of Governance & Remuneration Committee

Eric is a qualified youth and community development worker and has held a number of executive and non-executive roles in charities, housing and local government. His experience covers a range of projects and initiatives including Private Finance Initiatives, mergers, corporate restructuring projects, governance and stakeholder engagement.

Eric is passionate about providing homes for people while ensuring the social, environmental and economic well-being of the neighbourhoods in which they live.

Derek Gibbon - Audit and Risk Committee

Derek has over 30 years’ experience in the finance sector with a focus on risk management and leadership.

His sector interest and experience is derived from providing funding to housing associations, as well as supporting private sector developers with residential development finance to bring forward a wide variety of housing projects.

More recently, Derek has been employed by Homes England, where he works with developers to accelerate the pace of housing delivery across the country.  

Peter Johnson - Audit and Risk Committee

Peter is group head of internal audit at the Very Group. He has 25 years of experience working in internal audit and finance roles, primarily in the retail and financial services sectors.

He is a qualified management accountant and qualified with the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors.