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Midlands association appoints Birmingham council director as new chief executive
A West Midlands-based landlord has appointed Birmingham Council’s strategic director of housing as its new chief executive.
Honeycomb Group, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, announced on 9 November that Julie Guildford Smith would be taking over its leadership on 5 December.
Ms Guildford Smith will replace Diane Thompson, who announced in July that she would be stepping down after working for more than three decades in the housing sector, including 18 years in charge at Honeycomb, previously called Staffs Housing.
Honeycomb said in a statement that the new chief executive would bring “a wealth of experience and a genuine passion for the North Staffordshire region”, with Ms Guildford Smith having worked for almost seven years at Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
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She started there as head of housing options in 2010, before moving on to be strategic manager for landlord services and finally assistant director of co-operative working.
After leaving Stoke-on-Trent Council in September 2016, Ms Guildford Smith again became head of housing options, this time for Birmingham City Council, the UK’s largest local authority, which manages more than 60,000 homes.
She then became acting service director for housing before assuming the strategic director role in 2021.
Commenting on her upcoming role, Ms Guildford Smith described taking over at Honeycomb as “a dream job”.
“I look forward to building on the organisation’s successes by continuing to champion happy homes across Staffordshire and its surrounding areas so that everyone in the region knows the comfort of home and they can feel secure, connected, confident and proud,” she said. “Our customers are facing unprecedented challenges – we will continue to be there and provide the services they need throughout this difficult time and beyond.”
Besides being responsible for the 3,100 homes formerly managed by Staffs Housing, Honeycomb Group includes specialist arms that support people affected by homelessness and domestic abuse.
Andy Spencer, the group’s chair, said that Ms Guildford Smith is the “ideal fit” for the organisation.
“She’s committed to our mission that aims to break down barriers, build up people and better homes to create a region that is thriving,” Mr Spencer said. “She is also a great advocate for influencing a positive workplace culture.”
In 2021, Honeycomb was downgraded from G1/V1 to G2/V1 by the Regulator for Social Housing, which found that the association did not have an up-to-date record of its assets and liabilities or an asset management system that ensured “comprehensive stock condition information”.
Ms Thompson, the outgoing chief executive, said at the time that Honeycomb was “aware of the concerns raised by our recent [in-depth assessment] and are addressing them”.
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