Former Foxtons COO named as new Notting Hill Genesis chief executive

Housing association Notting Hill Genesis has appointed the 39-year-old former chief operating officer of estate agent Foxtons as its new chief executive.

Patrick Franco is expected to take up the role in January 2023 and will replace Kate Davies, who announced her decision to stand down in June after 18 years at the helm.

The 67,000-home housing association. which is currently working with Maccreanor Lavington and Haworth Tompkins on the regeneration of the Aylesbury estate in Southwark, said Franco had a wide range of relevant experience across sectors including residential management and finance investment.

Franco has had a varied career, spending over ten years at Credit Suisse in both New York and London. In 2012 he was appointed chief operating officer of the financial giant’s UK asset management arm, at the age of 29.

This was followed by seven years at Foxtons, a role he held while working for Global Heritage Fund, a non-profit organisation which works to preserve endangered cultural heritage sites in developing countries.

Notting Hill Genesis chair Ian Ellis said Franco had been selected out of a high calibre list of candidates as the “best able to lead our strong executive team”.

“We were especially impressed by Patrick’s strong understanding of the UK residential market and customer expectations, together with his high financial and investment literacy,” Ellis added. “That experience will provide an essential perspective from beyond the housing association sector, and will be invaluable as we navigate the current uncertain external environment.”

Franco has also been an advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion within the property sector. Ellis said Franco’s social values “align closely with the focus and ethos of Notting Hill Genesis, a core requirement for any leadership role with us.”

Franco said that improving customer satisfaction at the housing association is a “key strategic priority” for him, adding that he is looking forward to meeting residents to identify ways this can be accelerated.

“Now is clearly a challenging time for many, and the need for safe, comfortable and affordable homes in and around London is as important as ever,” he said.

“That demands increasingly urgent, innovative, and adaptive approaches to meet the challenge across the public and private sector. 

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“As one of London’s largest housing associations, Notting Hill Genesis is ideally positioned to take on this challenge.”

Outgoing chief executive Davies, who was awarded a CBE for services to housing in the Queen’s birthday honours earlier this year, has joined the board of partnership housebuilder Stonebond as a non-executive director.

At Notting Hill Genesis she oversaw large-scale development programme across all tenures at the housing association with the the creation of a private rent business, the introduction of a new housing management model and a merger that created one of the largest housing associations in the country.