Notting Hill Genesis CFO to step down

Notting Hill Genesis has announced that its chief finance officer intends to step down.

Mark Smith joined the housing association in April 2024 and has held the top finance role during a difficult period for the provider. 

It posted a £90.2m deficit on the back of huge one-off costs relating to building safety liabilities and impairments, which increased to £129.5m in its most recent full-year results.

Notting Hill Genesis currently has a V2 financial viability grading from the Regulator of Social Housing, as well as G3 and C3 gradings for governance and consumer standards.

In a statement to market today, Notting Hill Genesis revealed that Smith had told the board of his plan to step down.

He will be replaced by Ken Youngman for a period of 12 months, with the transition set to begin in the next fortnight. Smith will remain at the organisation until July.

Youngman has held a number of CFO posts in the sector, most recently at Anchor Hanover, and before that at GreenSquareAccord and Sovereign Network Group. 

Prior to this, he worked at the commercial development directorate at Transport for London and spent 16 years as group finance director of Family Mosaic Housing, now part of Peabody.

Patrick Franco, chief executive of Notting Hill Genesis, expressed his thanks for the “important role” played by Smith in “rebuilding the organisation’s financial resilience through a challenging period”.

“Whilst we still have further progress to make, we are pleased with the steps taken to become a more resident-focussed organisation and that all the finance-related actions in our Regulatory Compliance Plan have been delivered,” he said. 

“Ken brings to Notting Hill Genesis decades of relevant financial and sector experience and we are delighted he is coming on board to build on these foundations and to support NHG through this next chapter.”

Mark Smith, outgoing chief financial officer of NHG, said: “It has been a privilege working at Notting Hill Genesis at this crucial stage of its development. 

“I am pleased with the financial and strategic progress we have made against a challenging economic backdrop and am grateful to all my NHG colleagues for their support. 

“I look forward to working with Ken during this transition period before exploring new opportunities later in the year.”