Helen established, led and developed Stockport Homes. She created a vision of a values led innovative organisation, committed to Customer excellence, through staff empowerment and engagement which was supported by board members, staff, customers and the Council. Not only has she helped bring millions into Stockport through achieving money for Decent Homes, as a result of excellence, but also grant funding from being the first ALMO to build and lots of PV and RHI income by supporting staff to be innovative and seizing opportunities early. Stockport Homes is known for winning awards but much more significantly has thrived through numerous external inspections and accreditations, from the Audit Commission, Customer service Excellence, IIP (Platinum) to TPAS, Resolve and many more, including most recently the Deloitte’s Review, which concluded SHG was high performing and VFM. A Best Company to work for 16 years, the number one housing provider currently but for several other years, Helen puts staff engagement at the heart of her leadership.

Helen McHale embodies passion, vision, and transformation in the housing sector. This September, she celebrated an incredible 40 years in housing, including 20 inspirational years as CEO of Stockport Homes Group (SHG). Throughout her career, Helen has led with warmth, authenticity, and an unwavering commitment to people, always putting customers, communities, and colleagues at the heart of everything she does.

Beyond Stockport, Helen’s influence has reached the national stage. Helen is active and well known in the National Federation of ALMO’S, where she sits on the Board, has been recognised as a power player in housing on numerous occasions, a shaper in local authority housing development and recently won a national award for a ‘Lifetime Achievement in Housing ‘. The Vice chair of Greater Manchester Housing Providers for 10 years she played a leading role in is development and organisation.

No easy last few months for Helen, she will be leading us through our first regulatory inspection in January and will be working with all colleagues to support the foundations of SHG’s next 20 years which SHG will now embrace.