Meet the NU team

Since joining Swan in 2014, Geoff has overseen the growth of Swan's regeneration and development programme, progressing long-standing major regeneration projects at Blackwall Reach and Beechwood and leading on many new regeneration projects including Purfleet-on-Thames, the Queensway estate in Southend- on-Sea and the Laindon Centre. Geoff has led Swan's in-house construction service to grow exponentially and now includes two innovative modular housing factories in Basildon. In 2020 Geoff was made Deputy Chief Executive, taking on additional responsibilities, including property services and strategic planning.    

Geoff is a Chartered Surveyor and a Board Member of Opportunity South Essex.

Andy leads Swan’s regeneration and new business team and is responsible for securing and delivering development opportunities in East London and Essex. He oversees Swan’s development pipeline of over 4,000 new homes which includes the Blackwall Reach regeneration project in Tower Hamlets and the Craylands estate regeneration in Basildon. He recently led on the acquisition of the Laindon shopping centre in Basildon which Swan aims to regenerate into a new mixed use development.

Prior to joining the Swan Group in December 2014, Andy was the Assistant Director of Development at East Thames Group leading on the Group’s development and new business programmes. Prior to that he was at Savills PLC working in consultancy with a range of clients in both the public and private sectors.

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Linda is Sales & Marketing Director for NU living. With over 20 years’ experience in the property industry and a chartered marketer, Linda brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from both the public and private sectors. Having worked for developers, a property investment company, housing associations and estate agents she confidently views every opportunity and challenge from different angles to deliver the best product for NU living customers.

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Sam Wait is Director of Business Development and External Affairs at Swan Housing Association. Her role is to help Swan to expand its business through good growth, enabling it to deliver more affordable homes for those who need them and to ensure it operates in a way which "loves the planet". She recently led on the acquisition of Swan's second Modular Housing factory. Sam is also responsible for ensuring Swan is engaging strategically with its stakeholders and building relationships which help us work with our partners to deliver more, much needed, affordable homes. Before she moved into the Social Housing Sector, Sam practiced as a solicitor in the City of London specialising in commercial real estate.

Juliette Bartlett was appointed Business Excellence Director in November 2020. Juliette has a passion for making things better, taking on the complex and hearing what others have to say.

Juliette is responsible for two core functions within Swan. Juliette’s aim is to drive excellence in customer experience and construction quality and therefore has recently taken the lead of the New Homes Quality and Customer Aftercare team. An advocate in delivering high quality homes and communities since joining the Regeneration and Development department in 2015, Juliette has played an integral leadership role in the delivery of the Swan Group's development pipeline. At a time of exponential growth Juliette has led the Experience Excellence change programme and will now roll out this approach across the Group to facilitate the delivery of the Corporate Strategy aims. The Service Design team will provide an important hub for project delivery to all parts of the Group, facilitating collaborative process reviews and redesigns, putting users and customer experience first.

Karen Shanks, Strategic Director of Modular Housing within the Development and Regeneration Team will support the responsible growth of our modular housing division.

Having worked in the offsite property sector for several years, Karen was part of the management team that set up ilke Homes. She has also worked as an Industry Advisor with Buildoffsite and assisted various offsite manufacturers in their strategic approach and business improvement practices.

Karen’s earlier career included five years in the Royal Air Force and twelve years in supporting SME’s and Start-ups within construction, fleet and facilities sectors.

Rob is an experienced residential developer that has held senior positions with several of the UK’s leading house builders, including Berkeley Homes, Countryside and St Modwen Homes. He has been directly responsible for delivering over 4½ million sq.ft of development, including over 3,000 new homes, offices and town centre extensions. In addition to his construction experience Rob has taken the lead on more than £180m worth of land acquisitions and over £110m of land disposals.

Robert has been a development consultant advising the executive teams of private developers, city councils, local authorities and housing associations. Currently he is a Board Member with Settle Housing Association, where he also chairs their Development Committee. He spent several years as a retained consultant with the UK Government’s Design Council (CABE), advising on housing design, construction methods and economic viability. Rob holds a degree in Engineering and postgraduate degrees in finance, economics and construction from the London Business School, University of Oxford and University of Cambridge.