Southern Housing Group, one of the largest housing associations in the south east of England, has appointed Will Routh as its first Head of Sustainability to lead the Group’s expertise in this field.
Will joined the Group five years ago as an Environmental Sustainability Officer and played a key role in furthering the Group’s green efforts. He notably developed and delivered the Group’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy, managed the Group’s contracts for renewable energy, communal heating metering and billing, and advised on environmental management both internally and with contractors.
Will was instrumental in establishing the Group’s in-house Home Energy Advice Team (HEAT) in 2014. The team provides personalised and face-to-face energy advice to residents and has, under Will’s leadership, supported over 700 residents saving a total of £160,000 off energy, gas and water bills; an average of £230 per household.
In his new role, Will will work to extend the Group’s environmental sustainability expertise and continue to drive the Group’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its activities. This includes the development and delivery of the Group’s new Environmental Sustainability Strategy and increasing collaborative work with residents, suppliers, staff and partners to tackle some of the biggest challenges the Group and its residents face, including fuel poverty and climate change.
Following his appointment, Will Routh said:
“We have been committed to improving our environmental performance and to providing comfortable, energy efficient homes with low running costs to our residents for over a decade now.
We are proud of our achievements to date and I will, alongside my team, continue to drive and implement the Group’s environmental sustainability efforts to the highest standards.”
Chris Harris, Group Customer Services Director at Southern Housing Group, said:
“We’re grateful to Will for his dedication to the Group and our residents over the past five years.
Will’s appointment into this newly created role showcases the importance of sustainability for the Group. His experience and skillset will be extremely valuable to lead our sustainability agenda.”