Ian McDermott is reminiscing about his youth as a drummer in a band. “The drummer is the last to have a say. We played what the guitarist wants to play or what the singer wants to sing,” he says with a chuckle.

These days McDermott is a much more forceful figure. You can’t imagine him sitting back and letting others decide on the tune.

 Ian McDermott, new chief executive of Peabody

He has certainly taken to the spotlight recently as he leads the creation of a £900m-turnover behemoth of a housing association over the next few months.

We join McDermott by phone at an incredibly busy time, days after he started as chief executive of Peabody as it motors towards merging with McDermott’s former employer Catalyst. It will become one of the UK’s largest housing associations, with 104,000 homes.