Accent Housing has appointed Dean Anderson as executive director of customer experience, and Conan McKinley as executive director of assets and compliance.
Anderson will lead Accent’s approach to customer experience, customer influence and housing management. His role will focus on shaping how the organisation listens to residents, involves them in decision-making, and holds itself to account for service outcomes.
He will lead the development and delivery of the customer experience strategy, embed a strong customer-focused culture across the organisation, and ensure Accent performs strongly against consumer regulatory standards.
Anderson will work closely with residents, and colleagues in the executive team and on the board to ensure customer insight, feedback and lived experience inform service design, policy development and organisational priorities. His remit includes strategic leadership of housing management and neighbourhood services, customer engagement and influence and complaints, ensuring customers feel valued and supported.
He joins Accent with significant executive-level experience in social housing, most recently as managing director at Settle Group. He brings a strong track record in customer-focused transformation, improving service performance, strengthening accountability, and leading organisations through regulatory change, including the Consumer Standards, the Better Social Housing Review and Housing Ombudsman requirements.
“I’m delighted to be joining Accent at a time when the sector is rightly focused on strengthening customer voice, accountability and service performance,” Anderson said. “Accent’s clear commitment to customer-influenced services and strong governance was a major draw for me.
“My focus will be on continuing to embed a customer-centred culture, ensuring insight and lived experience shape decision-making, and supporting the organisation to perform strongly against consumer standards. By listening well and acting on what customers tell us, we can deliver better services and achieve more sustainable outcomes for the communities we serve.”
Future ready
Meanwhile, McKinley joins Accent as executive director of assets and compliance, providing executive leadership across asset management, repairs, building safety, sustainability and regulatory compliance. His role will ensure Accent’s homes are safe, well-maintained and future-ready, with strong assurance and risk management frameworks in place.
He brings more than 25 years’ experience in social housing and construction, including over a decade at director level. He joins from A2Dominion, where he led asset strategy, compliance, sustainability and major investment programmes across a large housing portfolio. He has previously held senior roles at Your Housing Group, Gentoo, and Believe Housing, and is widely recognised for his expertise in asset performance, building safety, decarbonisation and compliance.
McKinley said: “I’m delighted to be joining Accent at a pivotal moment in the organisation’s development, as it continues to invest in its homes and strengthen its approach to safety, sustainability and long-term asset management. Having progressed from frontline roles into executive leadership, I’m passionate about ensuring homes are safe, well-maintained and fit for the future.
“Accent has a strong platform to build from, and my priority will be to further strengthen assurance, compliance and investment planning so the organisation continues to meet regulatory expectations while delivering high-quality, reliable homes for customers. Safe, secure housing underpins wellbeing and opportunity, and getting this right is fundamental to everything we do as housing providers.”
Nick Apetroaie, chief executive at Accent, said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Dean and Conan to Accent following two highly competitive appointment processes. We saw an exceptionally strong field of candidates for both roles, which reflects both the importance of these positions and the calibre of leadership we were seeking.
“Dean brings deep expertise in customer experience, service improvement and regulation, and will play a critical role in shaping how we continue to listen to customers and translate insight into better outcomes.
“Conan’s leadership in assets and compliance adds further strength to our focus on safety, quality and long-term investment in our homes. Together, these roles reflect our commitment to customer-centred services, strong governance and delivering on the expectations placed on modern housing associations.”
The two new executive directors will begin their roles in the coming months.
Main image: Dean Anderson and Conan McKinley, incoming executive directors, Accent Housing
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