Housing association Greatwell Homes has announced three new board members and appointed a new vice chair.

Gurmeet Virdi, who has been a member of the Northamptonshire-based social landlord’s board since 2021, is now vice chair and will lead its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as board champion.

Gurmeet said: “I’m looking forward to taking on these new roles at Greatwell Homes to further support the board in steering the organisation to providing great communities where people live well. I’m committed to keeping EDI high on the agenda and holding the board and executive team to account in relation to equality and diversity within the organisation.”

Maana Ruia, Andrew Dale and Nabeel Irshad have also been welcomed as the newest members of the board. Greatwell was successful in attracting more than 100 applications for the board positions.

Maana is a finance professional with 25 years’ experience in capital markets and investments. She specialises in environmental sustainability and has extensive experience working in regulated sectors.

Andrew has 12 years’ experience in the housing sector, specifically in IT management and data, and is currently deputy director of digital, data and change at Newport City Homes.

Nabeel has extensive experience within the banking industry and currently works at Mastercard where he leads its government and public sector business.

Jo Savage, Greatwell’s chief executive, said: “As part of our Live Happy strategy, we aim to be an inclusive place to work that promotes diversity. For me, it’s important that this starts with our board and leadership team.

“In addition to our ethnic diversity, 46% of our board members and executive team are female, compared to 49% of our employees and 54% of our customers. This degree of diversity at a high level will help to steer our commitment to improve inclusivity, diversity and equal opportunity for customers and staff across the organisation.

“Whilst diversity in ethnicity, background and gender is extremely important when recruiting to our board, we’ve also considered diversity in skill sets, experience and expertise. This diverse combination will ensure members shape and inform the valuable decision-making and discussions that take place at board level. I’m delighted that our board is now more representative of the communities that we serve. This is something that we really value at Greatwell Homes and are committed to improving through the next stage of our corporate plan. I also want to take this opportunity to officially welcome Maana, Andrew and Nabeel to Greatwell Homes.”

Independent members Simon Brooksbank and Martin Lord alongside tenant Cheryl Armatrading all stepped down from the board in September after serving their six-year term.

Greatwell is currently in the process of launching a new customer assurance committee, which will play an important role in providing the board with assurance that its customer voice is heard, understood and influences decisions about services to customers. The committee, due to launch in early 2025, will consist of six members with four positions designated specifically for Greatwell Homes’ customers.