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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With a career spanning 25 years, Dean began his professional career as a Quantity Surveyor at Countryside Properties and Kier London he then progressed to become Commercial Manager at ROK and then Westfield where he took a strategic role in the delivery of the Stratford City development, the largest urban shopping centre in Europe.

Prior to joining Swan in April 15, Dean worked as Commercial Director at Weston Homes where he was integral to the regional expansion of the business.

At Swan Dean has progressed to Managing Director, NU living Construction, where he is at the forefront of enhancing NU living’s capabilities to meet the demands of the wide range of regeneration and development activity the Swan Group now undertakes, including modular construction, high rise and large scale, mixed use regeneration projects.

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.

As Swan’s Development Director, Frank plays a lead role in the delivery of the existing development pipeline, acquiring new business opportunities and establishing cross-sector partnerships to deliver a diverse project portfolio.

Since joining Swan in 2014, Frank has contributed to the growth of Swan’s development pipeline to over 8,000 secured residential plots, and oversees a range of mixed-use regeneration projects across east London and Essex. Developments include the modular-build Beechwood Village and Laindon Shopping Centre, the £1bn Purfleet Centre regeneration and the 1,700 home Southend-on-Sea Better Queensway estate redevelopment.  

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.