Amanda Holgate appointed interim as regulator probes housing and care giant
Sarah Jones has left housing and care giant Anchor with immediate effect.
Jones, who has led the £628m-turnover housing association for three years, has resigned with chief financial officer Amanda Holgate stepping into the role on an interim basis.
Neither Anchor, the largest non-profit housing and care provider in the country, nor Jones have confirmed the reasons for her departure. Anchor said Jones ‘decided to step down’.
However, the announcement comes months after the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) opened an investigation into whether Anchor has breached the governance and financial viability standard after finding several failures relating to safety.
The RSH has placed Anchor on its ‘gradings under review’ list meaning the regulator is investigating whether the later living and care specialist is non-compliant. The RSH has not given the reasons for the probe, but said it relates to a potential governance breach.
RSH also in February awarded Anchor a low ‘C3’ grading for consumer regulation, meaning it has serious failings and must improve.
The 55,000-home provider, which self-referred to the regulator, was found to have a third of its homes without a “current satisfactory” electrical safety inspection report.
Anchor was also found to have a significant backlog of electrical remediation actions and weaknesses across landlord health and safety, including fire safety and water hygiene. It had incomplete and unreliable information on damp and mould.
Holgate joined Anchor as CFO in February 2023 and became a board member three months later. She has worked previously as CFO at Southern Housing and has also held positions at Peabody and Family Mosaic (before it merged with Peabody).
Christopher Kemball, chair of Anchor, said: “The board would like to record its thanks to Sarah for her hard work and commitment as CEO in what have been difficult times for the housing and care sectors as well as her contribution as CFO for the previous six years. We wish her well for the future.”
In February, Anchor outlined several measures it has taken to improve, including strengthening management, bringing in new contractors to tackle the electrical report backlog with a view to clearing it by the end of 2025, instigating weekly meetings of senior managers to monitor progress and issuing a procurement notice to widen its number of electrical safety contractors.
>>See also: Regulator launches probe into Anchor’s governance as safety failings found
Anchor said it is also overhauling its damp, mould and condensation procedures and its new repairs platform, with technology platform Plentific.
According to Anchor’s website, Holgate is one of three interims currently on the executive team.
Jeremy Kape is serving as interim executive director for property and assets and Sara Thomson is currently interim chief risk officer.
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