Member Article

BDO names new National Head of Social Housing

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP has named North West partner, Hamid Ghafoor, as its new National Head of Social Housing.

The assurance and advisory partner, who has successfully led BDO’s Northern Social Housing team for the last decade, takes over the role from Phil Cliftlands, who has recently been appointed as Regional Managing Partner at BDO in the South East.

In his new position, Hamid will be responsible for overseeing all regional social housing teams, monitoring and maintaining high service levels, while continuing to lead many of BDO’s largest social housing audited entities.

Since joining the firm in 2013, Hamid has built a strong reputation in social housing and has more than 25 years’ experience working in the sector. During his career he has held various roles in industry, including Chair of New Charter Housing Group and is currently the Chair of Audit at Aspire Group. Also, he previously worked as Financial Controller at G15 housing group, Riverside.

At BDO, Hamid has grown the Not for Profit (NFP) client portfolio and acts as the lead adviser to over 30 clients in the public and private sectors. His client base covers some of the largest housing providers across the North of England, as well as a number of higher education clients and charities.

Commenting on his appointment, Hamid said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be taking over the role of National Head of Social.

“My aim is to continue to build BDO’s social housing portfolio across our business and maintain the service and quality levels that are core to our offering. What’s more, I’m keen to drive sector insights and provide the guidance needed to ensure our clients and audited entities are successful, while building our internal social housing community to enable us to share experiences, knowledge and specialist advice.”

BDO works alongside more than 30 registered providers of social housing across the North West, and 170 nationally. It provides services such as statutory external audit and financial accounting, business risk management, and corporate tax planning and compliance.

Angela Cross, partner and Head of BDO in the North West, said: “Hamid’s vast experience in the social housing sector makes him the perfect candidate to take over from Phil, who has done a wonderful job over the last 10 years.

“Social housing and the Not for Profit sector is an important market for BDO in the North West and we are delighted that Hamid is now leading the team nationally from our North West base. Over the last five years, Hamid has doubled the size of our social housing portfolio. This is testament to his specialist knowledge of the sector and the expert advice and support he provides.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ian Jones .