Meet our Group Board
The Group Board sets our strategic direction and monitors our performance against it.
Rachel Hatfield
Rachel Hatfield was on the Board of Thrive Homes as a non-executive director from July 2021 until the formation of Chime Housing in June 2026.
With over 20 years’ experience working as an international finance and corporate lawyer, progressing to become a partner at global law firms Weil, Gotshal & Manges and White & Case, Rachel’s focus is now on growing third-sector education and healthcare organisations in Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley. Whilst practising law, Rachel also helped grow the EHYA, a European trade association that is now part of The Association for Financial Markets in Europe.
Rachel taught for several years on the LLM programme at King’s College, London and worked in supervision, research, policy and stakeholder engagement at the SRA, the main regulator for the UK legal profession.
Group Board Interim Chair
Dale Butcher
Investment Committee Chair
Dale has expertise in strategy, business planning, transformation and growth.
He was Chair of Greenfields Community Housing from 2017-20 before its merger with Colne to form Eastlight Community Homes, and was Chair of its Development and Asset Management Committee. Prior ro the formation of Chime Housing, he was a Watford Community Housing Board member, bringing a blend of commercial knowledge and an understanding of development and the needs of residents and communities.
He was previously Group Development Director of Inchcape PLC (1986-2012), a trustee of the Inchcape Pension Scheme and Chair of its Investment Committee (1990-2012), Chair of the Lynch Hill Academy Trust (2016-19) and a Trustee of the Enthusiasm Trust Derby (2014-19). Since 2011, he has been an Advisor to the Emil Frey Group in Switzerland.
Matthew Peak
Matthew was appointed to the Thrive Board in December 2023. Matthew is a chartered management accountant and has considerable experience in the housing sector, having enjoyed previous executive and non-executive roles at Cambridge Housing Society, Hanover Housing and Suffolk Housing Society.
Matthew is currently working in the charity sector and is the Executive Director of Finance at Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and is also a Board Member for Flagship Housing Group.
Audit & Risk Committee Chair
Clare Norton
Clare has worked to alleviate homelessness for over 30 years, striving to help people experiencing homelessness and those with vulnerabilities to find homes.
For the last ten years, Clare has been the CEO of Peter Bedford Housing Association. Prior to this, Clare was Regional Director of Operations at Centrepoint and ran her own housing consultancy.
She also has 15 years of governance experience, most recently in the role of Chair of North London Muslim Housing Association’s Housing and Asset Committee, and as the Chair of Watford Community Housing’s Customer Experience Committee.
Customer Experience Committee Chair
John Tibbets
John Tibbitts is an experienced non-executive director and consultant, working with housing associations, local authorities and not-for-profit organisations on strategic development, investment and asset management matters.
John’s experience in social housing includes being a Board member at Thrive Homes and GreenSquare, and as an executive group director with Hyde.
He has held a number of senior commercial roles, including Managing Director of the project finance division of Kier Group plc and CEO of a public/private joint venture development company led by Essex County Council and Skanska.
Subsidiaries Chair
Kay Burnaby
Kay Burnaby is an Investment Director at a UK residential platform within a major retail bank, leading its national Housing investment strategy.
A Chartered Surveyor with over 23 years of experience across public, private, and government-backed real estate sectors, Kay specialises in strategic partnerships, JVs and the delivery of complex, multi-tenure projects. She has held senior leadership roles with some of the UK’s largest housebuilders, a housing association, and a central government housing body. Kay has previously served as a Non-Executive Director and is currently a Board Member of a master developer.
She also holds governance and a chair role at two of the UK’s leading independent schools. She is based near Watford and is a strong advocate for place, quality, and long-term economic and social value through housing.
David Dahan
David is a strategic advisor with a particular focus in business growth and transformational change. Beyond strategic development, he helps organisations on ESG, sustainability and their journey to net zero. His experience spans over 25 years in financial services; prior to being an independent consultant, he held a variety of strategy and senior leadership roles at Aviva.
He is currently Industry Initiatives Director for CREFC Europe, the trade association for the real estate finance industry in Europe; Senior Advisor with Auditel, a Carbon, Cost and Procurement Solutions consultant network; a member of the Board of Advisors of Berkeley Capital Group, a hotel developer, and GRIDSERVE, a sustainable energy solutions business.
Ceres El-Khalifa
Previously a Board member for Watford Community Housing, Ceres is a multi-disciplined professional with a background in international marketing, and community and social housing.
Having worked with housing associations and a local authority for a number of years, she has a keen interest in developing good-quality homes, strengthening communities, and ensuring organisations deliver meaningful customer service.
Ceres has a wealth of experience and aims to ensure that Chime Housing takes a holistic view of the issues affecting residents before decisions are made.
Richard Hanrahan
Rich is a chartered accountant with over 15 years of experience working in the Banking and Finance industry.
In his current role, as the CFO of Cambridge and Counties Bank, he holds a regulated Senior Manager Function role. Previously, he was the CFO of a London-based international bank and he spent 14 years working for a large UK high street bank leading teams across a host of disciplines from Treasury and Finance through to Strategy and market-facing transaction-focused roles.
As a local resident of the Watford area, he is passionate about utilising his knowledge and experience to further the prospects of Chime Housing for the good of the tenants and all stakeholders.
Rich holds the CFA and Chartered Banker qualifications and has completed the Advanced Leadership Programme at Cambridge University's Judge Business School.
Graeme Snell
Graeme has over 30 years experience in industry, including roles as Marketing Director and Strategy Director, working with central and local government. Graeme also has experience of complex organisational change programmes, and a deep background in IT systems development and implementation.