Shepherds Bush Housing Association (SBHA) has become a subsidiary of The Guinness Partnership Limited.

The proposed merger was announced in April 2023 and the final business case was approved by Guinness and SBHA’s respective boards and by SBHA shareholders in October 2023, following consultation with SBHA residents.

Created in 1966 by members of St Stephen’s Church in Shepherds Bush, SBHA and its 5,000 homes are located throughout nine boroughs in west London. Guinness, founded in 1890, has more than 140,000 customers in its circa 65,000 homes across the country. This partnership brings the total homes owned and managed by The Guinness Partnership to circa 70,000.

SBHA will continue to deliver local services to its residents across west London under the existing SBHA brand. SBHA operations will be led by Drew Warner, who becomes Managing Director of SBHA, reporting to Catriona Simons, Group Chief Executive. The majority of SBHA colleagues will remain in the employment of SBHA, with some corporate teams moving to Guinness over coming months.

The combined group will have turnover of £500 million and expects to invest nearly £0.7bn in existing homes over the next five years.

Reciprocal appointments have been made to the boards of Guinness and the SBHA. Sue Hunt (Audit and Risk Committee Chair), Amanda Carey-McDermott, and Catriona Simons will be joining the board of SBHA. Martin Hurst (Chair of SBHA), Tom Ground, and Jonny Shapiro (Resident Board member) will be joining the Guinness board.

Catriona Simons, Group Chief Executive of The Guinness Partnership, said: “We are delighted to welcome SBHA into The Guinness Partnership, and would like to thank SBHA and Guinness colleagues and our respective Boards for their work in making this partnership happen.

“From the very start of our discussions, it was clear that both organisations share a strong social purpose and a shared commitment to the communities we work in. Our partnership is about improving services and delivering more and better homes for all our residents, creating more places people are proud to live and investing more in our communities. I look forward to working with SBHA colleagues to make this happen.”

Chris Wilson, Chair of The Guinness Partnership Board, said: “We are very pleased to welcome SBHA residents and colleagues into the Guinness family.  We look forward to our shared future together in which we will deliver more for residents and communities, whilst growing our presence in London with an organisation whose values are very much aligned to our own.”

Andrew Warner, Managing Director of SBHA, said: “We are very excited for the opportunities the partnership creates for our residents and our colleagues. Our partnership will mean SBHA has the stability and financial resilience to ensure residents continue to receive ongoing investment in their homes more quickly than would otherwise be possible, and the longer-term capacity to deliver environmental improvements to our homes.

“Both organisations are working closely to integrate key business functions, ensuring residents, employees, and stakeholders are kept informed at all key stages. I look forward to our working together to deliver more for SBHA and Guinness residents in west London.”

Martin Hurst, Chair of The SBHA Board, said: “We are delighted to have completed our partnership with Guinness today. I would like to thank the Board, SBHA Shareholders and residents, and all our colleagues for their support of the partnership and their confidence in the opportunities this provides. By bringing our two organisations together SBHA will be better placed to deliver investment in its existing homes at a greater pace, improve services to residents and develop more affordable homes for the residents of west London.”