Aster Group has three new regional directors to oversee its housing operations.
Jean Dalziel, Sarah Johnston and Julian Paine now head up Aster’s regional offices in Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. All three report to Steve Benson, Aster’s Group Services Director.
“We are facing extremely challenging times and have three strong people in Jean, Sarah and Julian to take our housing operations forward,” said Steve.
Jean Dalziel joins from Worcester Community Housing where she spent the last seven years as their customer services director. She is based in the Group’s Andover office which looks after the Group’s work in Berkshire, Dorset and Hampshire.
Jean said: “There are a lot of changes happening in the housing world at the moment which means new challenges for us. We think we give a good service now but we know that there’s always room to improve. We’re working with our customers to help us to get better.”
Sarah Johnston joins from the Government Office of the South West and in previous jobs has worked in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister when John Prescott MP held the office. She started her career in Glasgow where she helped to set up some the first tenant run housing organisations. She now works from the Group’s Wells office looking after the Aster’s work in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset
Sarah said: “I’ve spent most of my career working with tenants to get them more involved with their landlords. So I’ve got a good grounding in working with tenants but I also bring a background in policy work which will be really useful in these changing times in the housing industry.”
Julian has worked for six years in Aster, including 18 months as Operations Director at Testway, before moving back to the Group’s office in Devizes to take up the regional director’s role for Wiltshire.
Julian said: “We have some exciting plans to bring in new levels of customer scrutiny which will really help to cement our main corporate objective of putting customers at our heart. By working even more closely together we can make sure our customers get the same high standard across the whole geographical area that we work.”
As well as its housing work, the Aster Group also includes an asset management company, a care and support company and a development company.
