Housing boss recognised as ‘green leader’

An award winning housing boss at one of the largest housing groups in the Midlands has been chosen as one of the top ‘Green Leaders’ in the region.

The Accord Group’s director of regeneration, Alan Yates, has been chosen as one of the Midlands’ ‘green leaders’.

Yates is one of 50 people highlighted by Sustainability West Midlands as playing a key role in leading the country towards a more sustainable future. The competition to find the Top 50 Green Leaders in the West Midlands was run by Sustainability West Midlands and partners the Lunar Society, Defra, Advantage West Midlands and Common Purpose.

The winners will now create a group to share and exchange ideas with each other to work towards a low carbon future.

“It’s an honour to be chosen as one of the Top 50 Green Leaders in the West Midlands and I look forward to sharing ideas with my fellow winners on how we can work towards making the region greener,” Yates said.

“At the Accord Group, one of our key goals is to be the greenest housing association in the country. We are working hard to achieve this by building low carbon homes to cut bills for residents and reduce the carbon emissions from our offices.”

Dr Simon Slater, executive director of Sustainability West Midlands, said: “We wanted our first Top 50 Green Leaders to be reflective of the West Midlands and that is why it was so important to get a broad cross-section of people working in different sectors that others can relate to.

“This is just the start and we’d like to make this an annual competition and a way for the very best to get involved and make the region a sustainable capital of excellence.

“We’ve already got some interesting solutions, such as a masterclass series, support for young or emerging leaders and developing a West Midlands’ low carbon agency. There were also suggestions of green industrial tours to continue to attract investment, as the Government cuts support outside London.”

In 2008, Yates, who is also chairman of the Sustainable Housing Action Partnership (SHAP), scooped the Green Social Housing Champion of the Year award at the national Sustainable Housing Awards.