Announcing her retirement, Fiona said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as chief executive at SCH. It’s been a period of great change, in particular the building safety and regulatory changes introduced following the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire.

“Through this demanding time, both the SCH Board and staff have responded with commitment to everything that has come their way and I thank them for all the support they have shown me down the years. I will miss them all.

“But I know that SCH is in the safe hands of our Board Chair Simon Wilson who will work to support the organisation’s new interim Chief Executive, Lee Sugden.”

Simon paid tribute to Fiona’s commitment to delivering housing services on behalf of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council through the SCH ALMO.

“Fiona’s many friends at SCH are sad to see that she is leaving us having guided the organisation with such professionalism for many years. We wish her a well-deserved and happy retirement,” he said.

NFA Managing Director Eamon Holmes added: “The ALMO family will certainly miss Fiona’s experience. Her clear-sighted approach has brought so many useful insights to our work to promote the ALMO model of council housing service provision.”

Consultant Lee Sugden, who takes on the interim role of CEO from February, has more than 30 years’ experience working in social housing including six years as chief executive of Salix Homes in Manchester.