Meet the Board

John has around 20 years’ experience in the housing field and is currently the Director of Govanhill Housing Association in Glasgow.  Previous to that he was the Head of Land & Property Assets for a Scottish City Council, overseeing corporate asset management development and landlord functions. He was once Director of a public/private joint venture property development company in Edinburgh, covering 3500 new homes, five schools, a new town centre, park land and transport infrastructure which won six major design awards and a government sustainability accolade. 

John joined the Board in September 2019.

Christopher joined the RCH Board by appointment from Inverclyde Council. As well as being a Councillor for Inverclyde East, Christopher is civil engineer specialising in the design of bridges. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has been involved in many projects throughout the UK.

Christopher lives in the Inverclyde area with his wife and children and has a keen interest in history and enjoys pastime such as archery, cycling and running – although he still gets off his bike when there is a large hill. 

Christopher joined the Board in March 2018.

Graeme joined the RCH Board by appointment from Inverclyde Council. As well as being a Councillor for Inverclyde North, Graeme has worked in the local engineer works, John G. Kincaid and with local charities. He likes travelling, having visited India on three occasions – once as a Himalayan mountaineer.

Graeme lives in Inverclyde with his wife, and his grown up children live locally.

Graeme joined the Board in May 2022.

Tom is a lawyer and a partner with a leading international law firm and a resident of Inverclyde. He has over 25 years’ experience advising on a wide variety of commercial property transactions across Scotland. 

Tom joined the Board in 2017.

Gillian is currently the Director of Build to Rent operations for a large and long-established company who work with partners and are dedicated to the creation of successful and thriving communities.  In the last 20 years she has worked in the office, student and leisure accommodation environment. Gillian was born in Inverclyde and still lives locally.

Gillian joined the Board in September 2019.

Charlie is the Marketing & Communications Director for the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, a national research and technology innovation organisation based in Glasgow and supporting UK economic growth from offshore renewables.

With almost thirty years’ experience of working both nationally and internationally within businesses or all sizes, he has extensive experience in stakeholder and reputation management, brand development, media relations and public affairs.

He spent eight years with BAE Systems plc, leading internal and external communications across various businesses within the global defence company, latterly as communications director of their maritime division, and previously worked internationally in the telecoms and engineering sectors. He has previously served as a Non-Executive Director of Remarkable, formerly Investors in People Scotland.

Charlie is married with two children and has lived in Inverclyde for the past 16 years.

He joined the Board in November 2020.

Heike worked more than 20 years in the property sector in different overseas positions.
She has management experience in residential and commercial properties and in
change management too.

Heike changed her career path in 2010, training and working as a
mediator, professional coach and clinical hypnotherapist. Heike retired in 2019.
She lives in Greenock and is a River Clyde Homes tenant.

Heike joined the Board in September 2021.

Ellis was born and raised in Inverclyde and has been a tenant for 38yrs; first of all with Inverclyde Council, then with River Clyde Homes.

She previously worked in education and served as Chair of the Board at a private nursery facility for almost four years.

Ellis joined the Board in September 2021.

Stephen has extensive experience in housing in Scotland, having worked for a number of organisations over a 40 year career. For 22 years, he was the Chief Executive of an Ayrshire based housing association and before that worked for a large housing association in Glasgow, a development corporation and a local authority. He has served as a board member of other RSLs, including periods as a statutory appointee of the Scottish Housing Regulator. For several years, he served on the Scotland Board of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Through his professional experience, Stephen is familiar with the regulatory and governance requirements of housing associations and with the Scottish housing sector.

Stephen has a law degree from the University of Dundee and holds the professional qualification of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

Stephen joined the Board in September 2022.

With 30+ years specialising in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), Liz developed her career in brand marketing, new product development and project management. She worked on a number of well-known household brand names within the food and drinks industry; both in the UK and overseas.

Forming her own consultancy some years ago, she is also a member of the Chartered Institute of marketing (CIM), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. She is a past president of Scottish Women in Business (SWIB)

Liz joined  the board of Volunteer Scotland in October 2021, and is interim vice-chair. She volunteers for Victim Support Scotland providing support for people in court and in the community, as well as serving on the board as a trustee between 2012-2019.

Liz is the Chair of the RCH subsidiary company Board, Home Fix Scotland Ltd. and was co-opted onto the RCH Group Board in March 2023.

Vera lives in Gourock and has been a River Clyde Homes tenant for nine years. 

She has worked for the same international organisation for the past seventeen years,  mostly in finance and sales intelligence. Before this Vera worked in several international organisations across Europe, mainly in sales statistics and intelligence.

Vera has three beautiful children and in her free time enjoys reading and hiking.