Social landlord Cottsway has announced the sad passing of its CEO, Vivian Rosser.

Vivian passed away aged 63 on Tuesday 15 March. He became Cottsway’s CEO June 2015 and was keen to bring a new lease of life to the housing association, which manages more than 11,000 customers living in over 5,100 homes for rent and shared ownership across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Worcestershire.

In a statement, the social landlord said Vivian was instrumental in pushing forward the growth of its development portfolio, and genuinely cared about itscustomers.

Andrew Hall, Chair of Cottsway’s board, said: “Viv’s passing has come as a real shock to us all. He was a pleasure to work with and had an incredibly warm nature. He really cared about Cottsway, its customers and staff.

“Viv joined Cottsway with a vision that he stuck to and he has had an immensely positive impact. He was respected by all of us on the Board and he will be greatly missed.”

The board has appointed Resources Director Richard Reynolds as acting CEO until further notice.

Richard, joined Cottsway in 2014 from a strong financial background in the private sector in different industries including retail, quarrying and printing, said: “I’ve worked closely with Viv since he joined Cottsway and we will all feel his loss deeply. He did an admirable job of leading the organisation, working to ensure it was in a strong, robust situation, while paying real attention to customers and staff -we will continue to build on all of Viv’s hard work.

“Our sympathies and thoughts are with his family, friends and our colleagues at this sad time.”

Vivian started his career in local authority housing and went on to become Development Director for Thames Valley Housing Association before gaining extensive senior level experience in the commercial sector.

He was highly regarded and joined Cottsway from Jones Lang LaSalle where he had been Director of Affordable Housing and brought with him a wealth of career experience gained from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. His achievements in affordable housing spanned over 35 years.

Vivian leaves Rosie, his wife, and his two sons, Tom and Ollie.