Our Team at Two Castles
Stephanie Murphy
Chief Executive
Stephanie has over 28 years’ experience in housing, spending 20 of those at a senior level. She joined Two Castles Housing Association from Carlisle City Council, where she was Principal Officer (Housing) and was appointed as Two Castles’ Operations Director in 2003, before taking up the Chief Executive post in October 2005. Stephanie has extensive experience of business, planning, development and service improvement, a degree from Manchester University and has membership of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Gill Boyd
Finance Director
Gill joined Two Castles Housing Association in 2002 from Arena Housing Group, where she was Finance Director and, prior to its merger, at the Liver Housing Association. She previously held accountancy positions with Royal Insurance and in private practice. At Two Castles, Gill is responsible for all financial, IT and HR functions and has experience of stock transfer and association merger activities. Gill also holds the role of Company Secretary. Before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Gill attended Liverpool University, gaining a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Accountancy and Finance.
Rob Brittain
Property Services Director
Rob joined Two Castles in March 2009 as Director of the restructured Property Services team. Rob started his housing career with Home in Scotland, before taking up a development role for Home Housing in Yorkshire. Prior to joining Two Castles, Rob was Business Development Manager for Broadacres Housing Association, where he managed the development, asset management and maintenance teams. He has an honours degree in Building Surveying from Herriot Watt University and an MA in Housing Policy and Management from Northumbria University. A member of the Chartered Institute of Housing, Rob combines 15 years of practical construction experience with academic qualifications.
David Armstrong
Housing Services Director
David joined Two Castles Housing Association ten years ago as North East Regional Housing Manager, before being appointed to Housing Services Director in January 2006. He previously worked at Gateshead Council for 25 years, beginning as a trainee Housing Manager and culminating with him holding the post of Principal Housing Manager. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing, and with an MBA from the University of Sunderland, David is also a former Chairman of the North East branch of the Chartered Institute of Housing. As Housing Services Director, David leads the office and locally-based housing management staff in both the North West and North East, working between the Association’s offices in Carlisle and Newcastle. His main objective is to maintain and further improve the high quality housing management and maintenance services to customers who rent and lease homes from Two Castles.
Barry Moore
Regional Housing Manager (North East)
Barry joined Two Castles in 1999 as an Estate Officer. He was appointed to the position of Housing Officer in 2002, Assistant Regional Housing Manager in 2004 and Regional Housing Manager in 2006. Barry studied Law at Northumbria University and is currently reading social housing law in order to prepare for a MPhil. He has extensive experience in the housing sector and is responsible for overseeing and managing the day to day running of the North East Regional Housing team.
Stephen Soars
Regional Housing Manager (North West)
Stephen joined Two Castles as Regional Housing Manager in 2003. He previously worked for Carlisle City Council’s Housing Department for 25 years in a variety of roles, including homelessness, lettings and comprehensive estate management, the latter eight years of which were at Principal Officer level. He has a BA Hons degree from Liverpool University and holds both the Professional Qualification of the Chartered Institute of Housing and a Level 5 National Vocational Qualification in Operations Management. Stephen is responsible for the day to day delivery of Housing Management and repair and maintenance services from our three North West offices.
Julie Cuthbert
Regional Property Services Manager (North East)
Julie has worked in development since 1987 and joined Two Castles in 1996 from English Churches Housing Association where she was a Development Officer. She was promoted to the post of Regional Property Services Manager in 2006. Julie is responsible for overseeing the development of new properties and asset management in the North East region.
Greg Denwood
Regional Property Services Manager (North West)
Greg joined Two Castles in June 2009 from Home North West where he was Head of Development and Regeneration and responsible for delivering its new build and estate regeneration programmes. Before joining Home, he was Regional Operations Manager at Derwent & Solway HA and Housing Services Manager for Allerdale Borough Council for ten years. He has extensive experience in housing in Cumbria, encompassing operational roles in housing management and maintenance and the strategic enabling role, working in both local authorities and housing associations. Greg has a BSc (Hons) degree in Town Planning from Heriott Watt University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Angela Losh
Finance Manager
Angela joined Two Castles in 1990 and was promoted to Finance Manager in 2007. Angela is responsible for the maintenance and improvements of the Finance departments, ensuring all performance targets and objectives are achieved in accordance with the Association’s policies.
James Jackson
IT Manager
James joined Two Castles as IT Manager after gaining his professional IT experience in the local government and nuclear sectors. His primary responsibility is the management of our IT and communications infrastructure and the ongoing development and implementation of our corporate IT strategy. A member of SOCITM (Society of IT Managers), qualified in ICT to degree level and a holder of an MBA (Master of Business Administration), James is also ITIL qualified and a registered Prince2 Practitioner.
Karen Vickers
Assistant Regional Housing Manager (North East)
Karen joined TCHA in 2006 after working for Home Housing for 14 years, during which time she covered all aspects of welfare benefits and housing management functions. Karen has a BA in Housing Sustainable Communities from Northumbria University and is a Corporate member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.
Ann Ellams
Assistant Regional Housing Manager (North West)
Ann joined Two Castles in 1991 as a Housing Officer and has 20 years’ experience in housing, having previously worked in various parts of the North West of England. She has held posts in both the private and local government sectors. Ann has an honours degree from the University of Wales and also a Chartership of Housing from the Institute of Salford.
