Orbit boss poached by contractor Osborne

The boss of Orbit is leaving the 47,000-home housing association early next year to become chief executive of contractor Osborne.

Mark Hoyland, who has been chief executive of Orbit for six years, will join the contractor early next year, with Dave Smith stepping down as interim boss.

Before working at Orbit, Hoyland was a managing director at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services and chief executive at CityWest Homes. He spent the early part of his career working at Wimpey.

Under Hoyland’s leadership Orbit has been seeking to expand its development to hit a target of completing 6,500 new homes over five years.

The £374m-turnover landlord built 1,013 homes in the year to 31 March this year, which was an increase on the 848 built the previous year but meant it narrowly missed its target of 1,141 completions.

>>See also: Can housing associations keep development going as the rest of the market slows?

Orbit had been in talks about potentially taking over troubled housing association Swan, but the talks ceased in September.

It said it expects to announce a successor as chief executive early in the new year.

Osborne carries out construction activity, including housing maintenance and new build, alongside education and commercial work.

The firm sold its infrastructure division, which operated in the roads and rail market, to private equity last September which helped it make a £675,000 pre-tax profit in the year to September 2021 compared to a £15m loss in the 18 months to September 2020.