Housing association bpha has announced the appointment of Paul Gray to the position of Executive Director of Finance.

Mr Gray is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and brings his extensive experience of corporate finance and of working in commercial organisations to the affordable housing sector.

With both national and international corporate experience, Mr Gray also has an excellent background of delivering strong financial growth.

John Cross, Chief Executive at bpha, said that Mr Gray’s professional advisory and corporate background and proven ability to work in a changing economic environment meant that he was the ideal person for the role.

“Paul was an outstanding candidate and his experience of developing and implementing business strategy made it clear he was the ideal person to undertake this key role,” said Mr Cross.

“We have aggressive growth plans for bpha during the medium to long term, and Paul’s previous experience in maximising commercial effectiveness will help deliver the results we’re after.”

Mr Gray said that the rapidly changing business and funding environment in the affordable housing sector made it an exciting time to join bpha.

“With the continuing and growing demand for high quality affordable homes, I knew that my commercial and corporate finance skills would help bpha to meet these challenges,” he said.

“bpha has an excellent reputation within the sector and I was motivated by the passion and enthusiasm the executive team displayed during the selection process.”

“It was clear that bpha recognised that change was necessary if it was going to continue to deliver great homes and great service, and the fact that it is taking proactive measures to improve efficiency and performance and to continue to grow meant I was keen to join the team.”