Denise Raine

Denise is a Director of Acuity and was co-founder of Feedback Services – providing research, consultancy and training exclusively to the social housing sector. She is a highly skilled researcher and among that rare breed of researchers who also know how to help others learn. Denise has recently facilitated workshops and seminars on behalf of HouseMark and Skills & Projects, and worked previously for the NHF. As well as being an expert on customer research, she has specific skills in resident satisfaction measurement, including the STAR and STATUS frameworks. Denise also knows the CORE system of data collection inside out and has delivered CORE training courses and conferences for staff at local authorities and housing associations across England.

Judi Watkinson

Judi has worked in social housing for over 20 years and has been an independent consultant, trainer and researcher since 2002. She is a former Director of Feedback Services Ltd and was for ten years a NHF associate trainer. Judi is a qualified trainer and has designed / delivered a wide range of training including Board member development, governance, appraisal, housing management, time management, chairing meetings, communication skills and marketing skills events. Drawing on an extensive repertoire of skills and methods, Judi knows how to bring out the best in people as they work and learn through her interactive design and expert facilitation.

Nitin Parmar

Also a former NHF associate trainer, Nitin has over 12 years training experience in a wide range of housing related settings and with a strong focus on Board member development, equality and diversity, data protection, and customer care. As with all of our trainers, his experience-based approach is learner-centred; incorporating awareness of individual learning styles, accelerated learning techniques and action learning methods to maximise engagement and delivery on learners’ needs. Participants have described Nitin as being focused, passionate, responsive to people’s problems and ideas, and thought provoking. Nitin is also a Business Excellence Model assessor with a broad portfolio of training materials covering leadership, management, teamwork, individual competences and a range of housing and human resource workable solutions.

Steve Creffield

Steve started his professional life in the cooperative movement and founded an international training venue for housing cooperatives, charities and social enterprises. Now 25 years on Steve has become a leading professional  in the field of empowerment and team development. His work has taken him to over 14 countries to work with agencies such as The United Nations, World Food Program, Water Aid, American Red Cross, and in the UK with Business Action on Homelessness.  His workshops and facilitation services are characterised by people coming away feeling more engaged, empowered and valued, and these results have been shown to last long after the workshops have concluded. He specialises in empowering people in hosting effective meetings and conversations, designing and delivering engaging presentations, and being able to identify and demonstrate value (for money) in everything they do.

Graham Martin

Graham has a wealth of experience in delivering training to tenants’ groups and Housing Association Boards, and is a former NHF associate trainer. His areas of expertise include business planning, housing finance, rent restructuring, service charges, regeneration, affordable home ownership and research methods. Graham has been involved in scrutiny and analysis of stock options, transfer and ALMO business plans in over 40 local authority areas, working with and reporting to tenant / resident steering groups. He has thirty years’ experience working in housing research, policy development and housing practice. Graham has a powerful analytical mind and ability to identify practical solutions ‘ahead of the curve’.

Ginny Colwell

Ginny has over 20 years senior management and Board level experience in both public and private sector healthcare organisations and has an MA in Individual and Organisational Development. In order to further develop her skills as a mentor, Ginny formally trained as a coach ten years ago and is also a certified practitioner of NLP and is trained in the NHS 360 tool. She now concentrates mainly on performance, action-orientated coaching, as well as working as a trustee of a hospice and a non-executive director for a co-owned, community healthcare organisation. Ginny has coached a wide range of people from a variety of organisations – from Board level to first line management. She combines her extensive management, coaching and facilitation skills to provide a personalised experience leading individuals and organisations to further realise their own unique potential.

Meriel Swain

Meriel is one of our coaches. Meriel joined our team in 2013 as an accomplished coach working with executives, senior and middle managers to develop inspirational and authentic leaders. Throughout her work at KPMG, Circle Anglia Housing Group and Thames Valley Police, and in a variety of roles including personnel, public relations IT resource management, the constant theme has been coaching and managing staff. As well as being IPD qualified, Meriel holds Diplomas in Business and Life Coaching, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming from the Associations for Coaching and NLP respectively. Her experience across different sectors over the last 27 years gives her a broad perspective on business. It has put her in a great position to help you clarify your organisation’s vision, and equip you with the skills to bring that vision and your personal goals to life.