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PA Housing chair to join Olympic Park development corporation in shake-up of top team
The chair of PA Housing is to join the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and a new chief executive has been recruited from a London council.
Suki Kalirai will be appointed as the new chair of LLDC, and Shazia Hussain will join as its new chief executive in the autumn.
The LLDC is responsible for housing and regeneration in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
Mr Kalirai has over 20 years of experience in non-executive director roles, including commercial and social housing. He is currently chair of housing association PA Housing and non-executive director and chair of the retirement living part of Housing 21.
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In his career, Mr Kalirai spent 25 years in senior executive roles at global firms such as Coca-Cola, and is a past advisor to leader of the , where he worked with leaders from 100 states on environmental and climate change policy.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, chose Mr Kalirai and the appointment is subject to consideration by the London Assembly. The assembly will provide Mr Khan with its non-binding recommendation on whether he should proceed with the appointment “in the next few weeks”.
Mr Kalirai said: “As the organisation moves to a different phase, I look forward to listening and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to support them and the mayor to further realise the ambitions for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.”
Ms Hussain is the current deputy chief executive of the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
She has over 20 years of senior experience in local government, including placemaking and regeneration, and is described as “committed to improving the social, economic and cultural condition of communities within east London”.
Before her role at Waltham Forest, she was assistant chief executive of Brent Council, and divisional director at Tower Hamlets before that. Earlier in her career, she was director of community development for Leaside Regeneration.
Ms Hussain said: “Leading LLDC into the next phase of its journey is a privilege. My focus will be to build on the fantastic legacy already in place, ensuring that growth and development are inclusive, and investment provides east Londoners with the opportunities they need to succeed.”
More than 1,200 homes have been built on LLDC development sites, with 4,500 more to be delivered over the coming years.
The new leadership team will drive growth and inward investment, and oversee the venues and parkland, as well as the long-term estate and commercial management of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, including the remaining housing developments.
LLDC also revealed that the corporation and its leadership will no longer have strategic responsibility for the London Stadium through its subsidiary E20 Stadium LLP. From April 2025, this company will sit outside of LLDC and will be a subsidiary of a wholly owned company of the Greater London Authority (GLA).
Mr Khan intends to appoint Lyn Garner, the current chief executive of LLDC, as chair of E20 Stadium.
He said: “Great progress has been made in making the venue more sustainable – both financially, with events like major league baseball and new commercial deals, and environmentally, with the project to install solar panels. It’s fantastic that Lyn will take on the role of chair in the new governance structure for London Stadium.”
Ms Garner said: “Just 20 years on from winning the bid, this is now an area creating jobs and investment, with community at its heart.
“As we complete the landmark East Bank construction project and hand back planning powers to our local boroughs, now feels like the right time to pass the baton to a new leadership with renewed focus.”
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