Board of Directors and Executive team
We operate through our Board of Directors, with day-to-day operations conducted by the Executive Committee.
Our Board is responsible for business strategy, risk and oversight of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee meanwhile has responsibility for all of the day-to-day management of the business, and for developing strategy for the Board's input and approval.
The Board comprises of four Non-Executive Directors and an Executive Chairman.
Board of Directors
John Martin - Executive Chairman and Interim Group Chief Executive
Appointment date: 13 January 2022
Career and skills summary: John joined the Group on 13 April 2021 as a Non-Executive Director before being appointed Non-Executive Chair on 1 May 2021. John was appointed as Executive Chairman and Interim Group Chief Executive on 13 January 2022.
John brings extensive experience to the Group having served at Ferguson plc, the FTSE 100 specialist distributor, where he served for more than nine years as Group CEO and previously Group CFO. Before joining Ferguson plc, he was a partner at Alchemy Partners LLP, the private equity group, CFO of Travelex plc and Hays plc.
John qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen where he worked for nine years in audit, operational consulting and corporate finance, and was Group Controller of the Stationery Office Group following its privatisation in 1996. John has a reputation for bringing strategic clarity and a sharp operational focus which has generated significant shareholder value in each of the businesses that he has served.
External appointments: John is a Non-Executive Director of Ocado Plc, where he serves on the Nomination and Audit Committees.
Amanda Burton - Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: 17 December 2015
Career and skills summary: Amanda joined the Group in October 2014 as a Non-Executive Director. Amanda is a lawyer and joined Clifford Chance LLP in 2000, leaving in December 2014 as its Global Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this, she was at Meyer International PLC where she was a Director and Chairman of its Timber Group. She also served nine years on the board at Galliford Try plc, as a Non-Executive Director from 2005 and as Senior Independent Director from 2008.
Other roles: Amanda is also a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees.
External appointments: Amanda is Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Remuneration and Market Disclosure Committees of HSS Hire Group plc, a Non-Executive Director of Skipton Building Society and a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Connells Limited. On 30 September 2020, Amanda was appointed to the Board of Elevate Services Inc as Senior Independent Director.
Baroness Sally Morgan - Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: 17 December 2015
Career and skills summary: Baroness Sally Morgan joined the Group in October 2014 as a Non-Executive Director. She is also the designated Non-Executive Director for workforce engagement. Baroness Sally Morgan had a long and successful career in Central Government, serving as Director of Government Relations at 10 Downing Street from 2001 to 2005.
Prior to this, she was Political Secretary to the Prime Minister from 1997 to 2001. She was appointed Minister for Women and Equalities in 2001, being made a life peer in the same year. She previously served as a board member for the Olympic Delivery Authority, as Chair of Ofsted and as a member of the advisory committee of Virgin Group Holdings Limited.
External appointments: Baroness Sally Morgan is Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, Non-Executive Director at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, an advisor to the board of the children’s charity ARK and a trustee of a number of charities.
Douglas Hurt - Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: 1 January 2018
Career and skills summary: Douglas joined the Group on 1 January 2018 as a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit Committee and Senior Independent Director of the Company. Douglas is a Chartered Accountant and has significant financial experience, having served from 2006 to 2015 as Finance Director of IMI plc, the global engineering group. Prior to this, he held a number of senior finance and general management positions at GlaxoSmithKline plc, which he joined in 1983, having worked previously at Price Waterhouse.
Other roles: Douglas is also a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committees.
External appointments: Douglas is Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Vesuvius PLC, a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the British Standards Institution and a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC.
Simon Townsend - Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: 1 March 2019
Career and skills summary: Simon joined the Group on 1 March 2019 as a Non-Executive Director, a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees. He also chairs the Sustainability Committee. Simon has extensive experience in the UK hospitality industry, having worked for over 30 years in various sales, marketing, commercial and operational roles, serving from 2014 to 2020 as Chief Executive Officer of Ei Group plc, the owner and operator of over 4,000 public houses across England and Wales. Prior to joining Ei Group plc in 1999, he was with Whitbread PLC, Allied Domecq PLC, The Rank Group Plc and Marston, Thompson & Evershed PLC.
Other roles: Simon is also a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees
External appointments: Simon is a Director of The Elms (Colwall) Limited and a member of the advisory board of Women in Hospitality, Travel & Leisure 2020.
Executive Committee
John Martin - Interim Group Chief Executive
Phillip Lyons – Chief Executive, Manufacturing and Operations
Team member since: May 2017
About Phillip: Phillip was appointed to his current role with effect from April 2021 and is responsible for developing and delivering the strategy to enable the Group to achieve its modular housing targets. Phillip joined the Group as Chief Executive of the Housebuilding division on 2 May 2017.
From June 2020, Phillip acted as interim Chief Executive of the Partnerships North division pending the appointment of the Chief Executives of the Partnerships North division and the Partnerships Midlands division. Having trained as a quantity surveyor, Phillip was previously at Taylor Wimpey where he was most recently the Divisional Managing Director, London and South East. He has over 30 years’ industry experience.
Mike Woolliscroft - Chief Executive, Partnerships South
Team member since: January 2020
Other roles: Mike was previously Managing Director of the Partnerships South, West London region
About Mike: Mike was appointed Chief Executive of the Partnerships South division on 1 January 2020. Mike joined the Group in April 2014 to establish and lead the West London region of the Partnerships South division.
In his role as Managing Director of the region, he led several mixed-use developments and strategic partnerships which have become industry reference points for good design and community development. Prior to joining Countryside, Mike was a Managing Director at Berkeley Group.
Joanne Jamieson, Chief Executive, Partnerships North
Team member since: January 2021
About Joanne: Joanne joined the Group on 11 January 2021 as the Chief Executive of the Partnerships North division to focus on continued delivery through the North of England. Joanne has held a number of leadership roles across construction companies in the North of England and the Midlands.
Prior to joining the Group, she was the Divisional Managing Director at United Living Group Limited improving that company’s new build and planned maintenance processes in the North and Midlands.
Philip Chapman - Chief Executive, Partnerships Home Counties
Team member since: July 2020
About Philip: Phil joined the Group in November 2019 to establish, and lead as Managing Director, a new West region of the Housebuilding division and was appointed to his current role in March 2021 following his successful stewardship in the role on an interim basis from June 2020.
He has more than 30 years’ experience holding senior positions at Taylor Wimpey and more recently at Linden Homes where he was Divisional Managing Director responsible for its housebuilding operations across the South of England.
Daniel McGowan, Chief Executive, Partnerships Midlands
Team member since: April 2021
About Daniel: Daniel joined the Group in April 2021 to lead the Partnerships Midlands division, focusing on operational excellence and delivery of flagship developments. Daniel has over 25 years’ experience in housebuilding across the South West, Midlands, and the North of England. Daniel most recently held senior positions with Taylor Wimpey, overseeing growth, operations and customer excellence.
Sian Myers - Group Chief People & Culture Officer
Team member since: January 2021
About Sian: Sian was appointed as Group Chief People and Culture Officer on 1 January 2021 and succeeded Nick Worrall, who stepped down from the role of Chief People Officer with effect from 31 December 2020. Sian joined the Group in 2015 to lead the reward and employee relations strategies ahead of Countryside’s listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2016.
She has held senior HR positions within the Group, most recently that of Culture Transformation Director to implement and embed a newly devised set of company values to inform every aspect of the business. Prior to joining the Group, Sian worked for Ford Motor Company in several HR leadership roles supporting Finance, IT, Manufacturing and Ford Credit functions.
Victoria Prior - Managing Director, Corporate Affairs
Team member since: July 2020
About Victoria: Victoria was appointed Managing Director, Corporate Affairs in March 2020.
Victoria joined the Group in 2015 as Investors Relations & Strategy Director to lead on communicating the Group’s key messages to external stakeholders. Her promotion in March 2020 was to a newly created role to oversee investor relations, sustainability, brand and corporate communications. Prior to joining the Group, Victoria was an Equity Research Analyst at JP Morgan Cazenove.
Gary Whitaker - General Counsel & Company Secretary
Team member since: November 2015
About Gary: Gary was appointed General Counsel and Company Secretary in November 2015. Gary joined the Group in March 2015 having previously been the General Counsel and Company Secretary for 15 years at Xchanging plc, which specialised in technology and outsourcing. He trained as a solicitor with Norton Rose, and qualified into the corporate finance team, working in its London and Moscow offices. Prior to Norton Rose, he served an 11-year commission in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.
Tom Wright - Interim Chief Financial Officer
Role: Interim Chief Financial Officer