Firsa Limited – Opportunity Research

Team » Julian Ashby

Other current roles

• Homes & Communities Agency Regulation Committee, Chair & HCA Board Member
• Institute for Voluntary Action Research, Chair
• Financial Information Company (publishers of Social Housing magazine), Chair

Notable prior roles, projects & experience

Julian was co-founder and Managing Director of HACAS Group PLC, a successful social housing sector consultancy that became a major subsidiary within Tribal Group in 2003. He entered the social housing sector in 1974 following a career in international merchant banking.

He was the independent social housing adviser to the Cave review of social housing regulation and Deputy Chair of the Tenant Services Authority until 2012.

He has been Chief Executive and Chair of many associations (usually in a trouble-shooting capacity). In his consultancy role he specialises in governance, general management, mergers, strategy reviews, organisation and structure, risk management and personnel issues.

Julian has conducted four Statutory Inquiries. Two of these have been for the Housing Corporation, one for Tai Cymru and one for Communities Scotland. He has also undertaken a range of other inquiries, reviews and investigations.

He is the author of many leading publications on governance and risk management, was Secretary to the housing sector's governance inquiry and was Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. He was the manager of two special purpose borrowing vehicles (Funding for Homes and Halos) which have raised some £300 million of borrowings for the social housing sector. He has recently Chaired two other special purpose borrowing vehicles.

Publications

• Learning from problem cases
• Partnerships and Practicalities
• No Time to Lose! Key issues for board members of start up transfer organisations
• Action for accountability
• Towards voluntary sector codes of practice
• In Control: the Voluntary Board Members Manual
• Learning from problem cases (volume 2)
• Internal Control. A guide for board members
• Competence and accountability, Code of Governance
• Risk Management for Committee Members
• Living with risk
• Responding to allegations
• To pay or not to pay

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