Our Board Members
Anna Urbanowicz (Chair of Board, RECC* Member) – Anna is a Chartered Accountant and has worked all her career in the private sector. Anna is a Former Group Director of Internal Controls at Esh Group.
Mark Thompson (Board & RECC* Member) – Mark is semi-retired running his own HR consultancy. Prior to this Mark was a HR Director in the retail sector, professional services and most recently in Education.
Graeme Allinson (Board & Risk and Audit Committee Member) – Graeme is an experienced Corporate Banking Director and was the Head of Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics division at Barclays. Other responsibilities have included Customer Satisfaction and Risk & Governance.
David Walker (Board & Risk and Audit Committee Member) – David is an experienced regeneration and property development expert who has extensive knowledge of managing and delivering mixed use development projects
Simon Wake (Board & RECC* Member) – Simon has over 30 years’ experience in the commercial property sector, acting for a wide variety of clients across many areas of business, but particularly in relation to the development sector.
Nicki Clark (Board Member) -Nicki is the Chief Executive at UMi. UMi helps businesses go further by providing information, support, expertise and finance.
Joanne Todd (Board & Risk and Audit Committee Member) – Joanne is the Chief Information Officer at St Johns Ambulance. She has over 25 years’ experience working in digital, data and technology.
Manisha Sharma (Board Member) – Manisha works for Thirteen Group as a Bespoke Lettings Coordinator. As a British Indian woman, Manisha is role model for other ethnic minority colleagues and under-represented communities.
Richard Hukin (Board Member) – Richard is Executive Director of Business Support at Berwickshire Housing Association and joined the North Star Board in September 2024.
*Remuneration Employment Conditions Committee (RECC).
We maintain a register of declarations of interests for all our Board and Committee members – if you would like more information about this please contact people.services@northstarhg.co.uk
More information about our Board
We sign up to the National Housing Federation’s code of Governance, and Board members are appointed following a robust selection process. We conduct annual appraisals of our Board members. We maintain rigorous internal control systems to support and underpin the governance arrangements. This ensures we have a “fit for purpose” Board.
The Board comprises people who are committed to the communities we serve. Members have a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to draw on. They maintain their knowledge base and keep up to date by attending regular training and development events.
We have 11 Board members and a five-member Risk and Audit Committee (RAC).
North Star, worked in partnership with Beyond Housing, Gentoo, Thirteen Group and the Housing Diversity Network which launched a two-year programme to develop the Board members of the future. The programme, the first to be delivered in the North East, focused on increasing diversity at Board level. Applications were encouraged from people from ethnic-minority communities, the LGBTQ+ community, people with a disability, women, and young people, all of whom are significantly under-represented at Board level, locally, nationally, and internationally. During the two-year programme, the twelve Trainees received comprehensive training, shadowed local Boards, and were supported by a mentor. The skills they will gain will help prepare them to become the Board members of the future.
The remuneration of Board members for their work on behalf of North Star from 1st April 2025 is:
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Chair of Board: £12,062
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Deputy Chair of Board: £7,630
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Chair of RAC: £7,074
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Board Member: £5,212