Posted 01/10/2021

Swan CEO to retire after more than 28 years leading Swan Housing Association

Swan Housing Association has today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, John Synnuck, will be retiring in March 2022, concluding over 28 years of successful leadership, which has enabled Swan HA to become one of the most innovative regenerating Housing Associations in the UK.

As Swan continues to emerge positively from Covid-19, it confirmed that with a new Chair and Corporate Strategy in place, John felt confident he could retire knowing Swan was on track to continue delivering its purpose – to find better ways of doing things so that we can improve lives and communities. Every day.

Swan has confirmed that John will remain in post until the end of the current financial year and that the recruitment process for a new CEO will be announced over the coming weeks. 

John Synnuck, CEO commented: “I am hugely proud of the way the entire Swan team have responded to the extraordinary situation in the last 18 months, focusing on providing services to our customers and on how we can still continue to deliver on our ambitions as an organisation.

"On forming Swan HA in 1992, we then took around 2,000 homes in Basildon from the Commissioner for New Towns 2 years later and began our first regeneration.  As I move towards my retirement, I am leaving an organisation which, through the dedication of its staff and joint working with a range of partners, is achieving regeneration at scale, pushing forward with innovative ways to increase housing delivery including modular housing, all whilst focusing on putting our customers first.

"When I started in this sector, the transformative potential of Housing Associations could not be imagined, yet today we are collaborating to build new towns which put the community first with a renewed focus on providing brilliant homes, high quality public realm and greener communities which prioritise well-being and quality of life, not on just building “units” of housing.

"I am truly inspired by all of the stakeholders and colleagues I have worked with over the last 26 plus years to deliver this level of change and I feel confident that I can hand over Swan HA to the leadership of a new CEO, who will continue to deliver on the transformative work this organisation has in progress.”