Our Board

Ged Lucas

 Chair

Ged grew up on various Council Housing Estates in Merseyside. His positive experience as a Council Housing tenant spurred him into developing a career in the housing sector, working for Wirral Council Housing Department in the early stages of his career and progressing to senior roles including Director of Housing.

Ged became the Chair of Magenta Board in 2021 and is passionate about his role in supporting and developing Magenta Living to be a great organisation that is a landlord of choice for the Wirral and a valued partner of Wirral Council. Outside of his role as the Chair of the Board, Ged is a long suffering but ever hopeful supporter of Everton FC.

Myles Edwards

Senior Independent Director

Myles is a proud dyslexic thinker and applies his creative, problem-solving and communication skills to complex challenges, which has contributed to his successes as an experienced Executive and Non-Executive Director.

Born and bred in Birkenhead, Myles established a deep personal connection with Social Housing at an early age and is passionate about creating a modern, dynamic Magenta Living that delivers sector leading value for money and customer satisfaction by providing safe, energy efficient warm homes in great communities.

Myles has extensive commercial, governance and risk management experience in not-for-profit, healthcare and financial services organisations and is currently a Board Director at Hyde Housing, Trustee of Age UK Wirral and freelance business strategy consultant.

Ann-Louise Gilmore

Chair of Assets & Developments Committee

After attaining a graduate degree in Building Surveying, Ann-Louise pursued her interest in housing, working on private sector and residential portfolios. Her passion for housing and improving services for tenants stems partly from her own experience with social housing – becoming homeless earlier in her life and becoming a Council tenant. Whilst some of her best memories were made during this time, she also learnt how things shouldn’t be done! The challenge of value for money and excellence in customer service has driven her through her career.

Ann-Louise manages the challenging demands of running a family business and family life with her responsibilities as a Board Director at Magenta Living. This allows her to challenge and influence the business, which she sees as a privilege.

Ann-Louise has spent over 25 years in social housing, the majority of this time at senior level as an Assets and Operations Director. She is currently completing Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Assessment of Professional Competence qualifications, whilst leading in the refurbishment of a family bungalow.

Susan Goodman

Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

Sue is passionate about working as part of the Magenta Living team to deliver excellent services to tenants. Sue believes that everyone should live in a good quality home with a safe, thriving and inclusive community.

Sue is an experienced Board Executive, currently a Non-Executive Director serving on the Board of both Magenta Living and of another housing association based in Manchester. She has worked in the housing sector for over 30 years, has an MBA and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing.

In her leisure time, Sue enjoys walking and yoga. She also enjoys baking cakes for family and friends.

Liam Kelly

Chair of People & Culture Committee

Liam is a social entrepreneur who has lived in Wallasey for most of his life, studying at local schools, college and University.

Liam joined the Board of Magenta Living to add value to an organisation that he feels is significant to the lives of many people in the area. He is passionate about building and improving communities and sees Magenta Living as a key part of maximising Wirral's future potential.

Liam co-founded a local enterprise ‘Make CIC’ in 2013 to help people turn their passions into prosperity and is now the organisation’s CEO. Part of Liam’s motivation for starting the enterprise was due to a mental health crisis he experienced.

“I am passionate about mental health, entrepreneurship, and communities and use these life experiences to inform my decision-making as a Board Director.” 

Paul McGrady

Spending his early childhood growing up in local Council estates, Paul is clear about the benefits of good affordable homes and the difference it can make to people’s lives.

After an opportunity to join the Finance Team of the local Council, this eventually led to Paul gaining his chartered accountancy qualification and Master’s Degree. He has remained in the public sector, recognising that the ethos and values of this sector were particularly aligned to his own. This is evidenced in Paul’s roles as a Non-Executive Director at two other community focussed organisations and his Executive role at a North Wales housing association.

Paul spends his free time with his family and maintaining and driving old classic cars.

“Whatever your background, joining a board can be intimidating, but you need to remember that everybody there is just trying to do their best for the people who rely on the services, and it gets easier over time” 

Mike Turner

Mike has a strong interest in social housing having grown up in a Council house on the Woodchurch Estate and subsequently spending 32 years working for contractors specialising in the refurbishment and new build of social housing. He has always felt an empathy with tenants due to this and feels that being on the Board of Magenta Living is a way of using his life and professional skills to “give back“.

Mike’s socio-economic background is based on a working-class upbringing where his parents worked in local shipbuilding and factories.

Mike’s main ‘outside interest’ at the moment is his two-year old twin grandchildren! He maintains a healthy lifestyle playing golf and attending various gym classes and loves a good fiction or non-fiction read.

Jules Booker

Jules grew up in Social Housing in the North-West near Manchester and has worked in finance for over 20 years, both in the not-for-profit and private sectors. Jules currently manages a busy family life and her roles as a Magenta Living Board Director and Executive Director of Resources at a Cheshire based Housing Association.

Jules brings to bear to the Board of Magenta Living her professional skills including an FCCA accountancy qualification, and her Finance, ICT, Governance, Procurement and Organisational Development experience as well as her appreciation and insight

Mike Riley 

Mike is proud of his Wirral roots and has very personal experiences of social housing.

Mike is a Chartered Building Surveyor initially working in professional building surveying practice which included development of social housing. Mike embarked on an academic career in 1990 at Liverpool John Moores University where today he is a Director and Professor of Building Surveying. He represents the University on a range of partnership projects including the Innovation Board, Built Environment Board, Making it Board and LCR Freeport Board.

Mike lives in Wirral with his wife and their two cats and when not working, he campaigns an ageing rally car in events across the North West.

Steve Allcock

Steve brings extensive experience to the Magenta Living Board, both from inside the housing sector, as Group Business Transformation Director at Riverside, as well as many years working in the private sector for well-known organisations.

Steve passionately believes in the value of technology, data and digital services and how they can deliver modern, convenient services for customers and colleagues, whilst delivering cost efficiency and wider benefits for business to thrive. Steve is qualified in Managing Strategic Programmes (MSP®) and has spent most of his career delivering transformation, covering technology, people and cultural change.

Steve lives in Warrington, Cheshire with his wife and children and is currently studying for his MBA qualification.

Andrew McCullagh 

Co-optee to Group Audit and Risk Committee

Andy is currently a Head of Enterprise Risk Management at Coop Funeralcare and has substantial risk management, internal audit and governance experience within financial services, public sectors and cooperative organisations. His areas of specialism include operational, enterprise and strategic risk management, internal audit, business continuity and risk event management; outsourcing arrangements and the development of governance frameworks. He is a graduate with both post-graduate and professional qualifications in Internal Audit and Management and has been a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors for 25 years.