Our Executive Leadership Team includes a Chief Executive, two Executive Directors, an Assistant Director and four Heads of Service who specialise in managing different areas of our organisation.
Lee Sugden
Interim Chief Executive
Lee joined SCH in February 2026 as Interim CEO. He is a qualified accountant and housing professional with over 30 years experience in social housing.
Starting his career at 16 as a Junior Finance Clerk, Lee progressed to be Finance Director of several housing associations before being CEO of Salix Homes. For the last five years, Lee has supported various housing organisations, including ALMOs, in both an advisory and interim capacity.
Paul Edwards
Executive Director, Customer Experience & Corporate Support
Paul has joined our organisation in February 2024, and has spent the last 35 years working in housing. Paul started out as a frontline Housing Officer in a local authority before moving into a policy role with the Commission for Racial Equality.
Darren Baggs
Executive Director of Operations
Darren has worked in the Housing sector for nearly 30 years, starting his career as a trades operative, and then worked on various supervision and management roles within property and asset management.
Becci Youlden
Head of Customer Experience
Becci has worked in the social housing sector for over 20 years in a variety of roles including customer experience, business improvement and transformation, housing management, community development and engagement, estate management and various development projects.
The main driver for Becci working in social housing is the contribution customer experience and engagement makes. Our residents voices should be central to the work we do, to build thriving communities.
Becci is responsible for the customer experience function which includes the contact centre, complaints, customer service, communications, resident engagement, and wider community activities and development including our Localities programme. She also leads on the Business Intelligence function, Business Transformation and Service Improvement.
Carol Trappett
Head of Housing
Carol has worked in the social housing sector for more than 30 years. The majority of those years were spent at Solihull MBC and SCH, with 8 years working for a Midlands housing association overseeing the Customer Experience directorate.
During Carol’s many years at Solihull, she worked across a broad range of housing management services. Carols service in the social housing sector has helped strengthen her knowledge around the challenges and rewards of working in social housing, and helping to ensure that that organisation not only meets the expectations of the Regulator of Social Housing but that it continually strives to improve its services to customers, working in close partnership with our stakeholders.
Carol oversee our service delivery of Homelessness, Allocations, Tenancy and Neighbourhood Management, tenure neutral Anti-Social Behaviour, Tenancy Sustainment, Income and Rent Services, Money Advice, Right to Buy and Leaseholder Management.
Samantha Gilbert (SMBC)
Assistant Director of Finance and Property Services
Samantha is responsible for Financial Management and Procurement.
Andy Duke
Head of Asset Management and Development (Interim)
Abel Phiri
Head of Property Services and Building Safety
Abel has over 10 years’ experience in the social housing sector where he has successfully developed and implemented strategies aimed at delivering business objectives and keeping residents safe. As Head of Building Safety and Compliance, Abel leads on the delivery of SCH’s landlord compliance and building safety responsibilities.