Welcoming Noel Sharpe into the role of Group Chief Executive Officer

We’re delighted to welcome Noel Sharpe into the role of the Group Chief Executive Officer. Noel had been the Deputy Group Chief Executive since 2018 and takes over from Jon Lord who retired at the end of 2022.

A bit more about Noel and her appointment as CEO

Noel first joined Bolton at Home in 2015 and has held senior leadership positions for over 15 years with housing providers also including Halton Housing and Great Places Housing Group.

In August 2022, Noel was appointed to succeed Jon as Bolton at Home Group’s next CEO.

As well as being part of the executive management team at Bolton at Home, Noel is also a trustee of Bolton Lads and Girls Club and chairs the Economic Prosperity Group, which is part of the 2030 Bolton Vision steering group. Bolton Vision is a local partnership that brings together senior leaders from the voluntary, community and faith sector, the private sector, the university, college and schools, health, emergency services and the council.

A fond farewell to Jon

Jon worked in housing since 1987 and led Bolton at Home for 13 years.

He was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to social housing and, for a decade, was also the chair of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP) partnership. GMHP is a group of 24 housing providers working at the heart of long-term housing, health and place-making strategy in the region, and which together house over half a million of the city region’s residents.

Jon led Bolton at Home’s transition to becoming a registered housing provider and a charitable community benefit society, delivering a wide range of housing and community-based services.

Some words from our own Managing Director, Hayley Hulme

“We wish Jon all the best in his retirement and are sure, despite stepping down, we will continue to see him supporting people and communities across Bolton. Without Jon’s innovation and commitment to Bolton, Starts with you would not exist and we would not be here to make the Positive Change we do every day. We will always be grateful to Jon for championing the set-up of SWY and supporting us in our formative years, we absolutely could not have done it without him!

The great comfort in saying farewell to Jon is that Noel has stepped into the role of CEO. We know she will continue Jon’s work, bringing new skills and drive to deliver our shared vision and passion for helping Bolton and the people we work with to be the best that they can be. Noel has been a champion for SWY from the very beginning and we thank her for her guidance and commitment, both as a valued colleague and Board Director. We will miss her insight and professionalism at Board but look forward to working with her as CEO, we know she  will continue to help SWY grow from strength to strength.”