New CEO modernises identity as well as almshouse stock

Leading charity chief executive has officially joined Beverley Housing Charity - Andy Barber brings many years of charity experience with an entrepreneurial edge.

Before joining Beverley Housing Charity (BHC), he was CEO of the HEY Smile Foundation. He founded the charity with then Chair and current East Yorkshire Lord Lieutenant Jim Dick OBE with the drive to bring good intentions to life across the region.

During his tenure as CEO at Smile, supported by an entrepreneurial Board of trustees and a team of sector leaders, Andy took the charity from a £14,400 start-up funds to investing more than £10m in the region over his 14 years. Employing over 30 local people and impacting hundreds of great causes whilst engaging many of the region’s leading businesses to do more for thousands of beneficiaries across Hull and East Yorkshire.

When the opportunity to support the then-named Beverley Consolidated Charity came along in 2021, Andy grasped it, initially on part-time secondment before taking the role full-time earlier this year.

Plans already developed by Andy, the new BHC Board and operational team, ensure the charity will grow further and faster as a leader in housing for people in retirement. With its current portfolio of high-quality property located ideally in Beverley and all it has to offer as a community, the organisation continues to provide the ideal platform for the charity’s beneficiaries to truly live, not just exist in retirement.

Andy is ambitious for all involved in the charity, not just the organisation. With entrepreneurial flair, he is taking the charity through a modernisation whilst keen to retain the critical components of what makes it special to its hundreds of residents.

Andy thanks his upbringing for his approach to working life: "I worked with my dad, a self-employed joiner ‘as his mate’ on weekends and holidays from age 12. I always enjoyed meeting people of all ages and backgrounds and listening to them as part of the job. Helping my Dad was a valuable experience which was a large part of my development and career progression.

“I took this learning into working in pubs and was lucky to be offered a role when returning to East Yorkshire at Dove House Hospice as their Fundraising Manager. Being a people person and building relationships has been critical in all areas of my work. I feel fortunate to have been exposed to this at a young age.

“Sadly, when my Dad became ill, I saw what a difference a home and a community, not just a house, makes to someone; he had early onset dementia and other long-term health conditions and lived in the private rental sector. If my Dad had the opportunity to live in the quality of accommodation, BHC offers, his later life stages would have vastly improved. This drives me to ensure that what we offer as a Charity is of the quality that the team and I would gladly see any of our family live within”.