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Our Senior Management Team

The Board is supported by the Senior Management Team, led by the Chief Executive, John Donnellon. They are responsible for strategic and day to day management, planning, and delivering all activities undertaken by BCH.

Our Chief Executive is supported by 2 Directors and 4 Heads of Service.

Image of John Donnellon, Chief Executive
John joined BCH as Chief Executive in 2015 having previously been a Director at Blackpool Council with responsibility for built environment and regeneration. John has over 20 years’ experience of leading regeneration projects and teams in a number of areas of Lancashire and has always followed the ethos of - leave a place in a better state than you found it. In addition to leading BCH, John serves on the board of the local Credit Union and chairs the board of a local community arts company, Left Coast. John also sits on the Children and Families Partnership Board and has recently joined the Health Equity Commission looking at the links between health and poverty. Outside work John volunteers with a local heritage trust helping to raise funds to preserve and enhance Rivington Terraced Gardens. A life-long Manchester United season ticket holder and a keen if increasingly slow five a side footballer helps fill any spare time along with some enthusiastic running and walking. John is passionate about the need to give everyone access to good quality, affordable and safe housing as one of the basic building blocks for a stable and successful life.
Image of Maggie Cornall, Director of Operations
Maggie has worked in social housing for many years and across a number of different types of landlords. Maggie has dedicated over two decades of her career to the housing service in Blackpool and helped to set up the company, Blackpool Coastal Housing. Maggie is a fully qualified housing professional, obtaining ‘Fellow’ status from the Chartered Institute of Housing and subsequently obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Maggie also qualified to lecture on housing studies courses. Maggie has a busy family life having three children and enjoys physical activity. She has managed to complete 5 marathons, a number of half marathons and numerous 10k races. As part of Maggie’s wider commitment to Blackpool she has been a trustee and chairman of the boards of two separate charities which both worked with children and young people. Currently Maggie is a non-executive director of Wirral Methodist Housing Association, providing expert housing challenge to the management team at the Association and also sits on their Governance and Internal Controls Committee. Maggie passionately believes that housing has a significant influence on the health and wellbeing of residents within our communities. She uses this passion to not only create high quality landlord services but also to develop innovate new services that contribute to these wider priorities within Blackpool.
Image of Stephen Dunstan, Director of Resources
Stephen is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He qualified with KPMG in Preston and has lived in the Blackpool area ever since. He has a Masters in Public Administration, and since joining BCH has also qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Housing. He is married to Jane and has two grown up daughters, Sabine and Bryony. Among Stephen’s external appointments he is the Chair of Blackpool Citizens Advice and also of two local schools – St Nicholas primary on Marton Moss and Lotus School on Mereside. He is the Treasurer of The Electric Sunshine Project CIC which runs a community theatre and also Claremont Park Community Centre, and Secretary of the Trustees of The Magic Club youth facility also in Claremont. He sits on the Audit Committee of Runshaw College, having previously served for a decade on the equivalent committee at Blackpool and the Fylde College. Stephen has volunteered at parkruns for a number of years and is the Event Director for the first junior parkrun in Blackpool which started in September 2021. He is also a keen naturalist and undertakes whale, dolphin and seabird surveys for the environmental charity Marinelife.
Image of Jamie Weston, Head of Asset Management and Operations
Jamie has worked in housing for a number of years and is a qualified building surveyor. He has held a number of management positions at Johnnie Johnson Housing, Calico Housing and Adactus. He has a wealth of experience delivering projects for Local Authorities as well as contractors and commercial businesses. As Head of Assets and Operations, Jamie has responsibility for ensuring that our homes are well maintained and in a safe condition by overseeing the operational and strategic delivery of our asset management and operations services.
Image of Andrew Walker, Head of Housing
Andrew worked in both the insurance industry and the NHS before joining Blackpool Council in March 2003 as an Emergency Housing Officer and later Team Leader. His role in Emergency Housing provided him with an in depth understanding of the difficulties people face when they do not have a home. Andrew went on to secure the role of Area Manager at the Queens Park Housing Office, before taking on his most recent post of Rents Team Manager. As Head of Housing, Andrew oversees the Rents, Lettings and Anti-Social Behaviour and Neighbourhoods services which are accredited by external organisations including Housemark and the Housing Quality Network. Andrew is a firm believer in the behaviours set out in BCH’s Vision and Values – in particular that all Housing Services staff listen and act fairly with respect and compassion and that feedback from our customers is essential to maintaining the standards expected of us.
Image of Denise Williams, Head of Support
Born in Blackpool and a resident of the town, Denise is proud to work for an organisation that continuously works to identify, shape and deliver professional and quality services for its customers. Denise began her career in support, working for Lancashire County Council and then Blackpool Council for over 18 years, where she held a number of management roles within Social Services. In 2003 she joined BCH as Supported Housing Manager responsible for both Housing Services and the organisation’s 800 Sheltered Housing properties. Denise is passionate about providing excellent services for local residents and as Head of Support at BCH, Denise is responsible for delivering a professional and caring service to some of the most vulnerable residents across Blackpool. Working with Blackpool Council and other partners, Denise has been instrumental to the development of a number of new projects, most recently leading the delivery of the ESF funded More Positive Together service, a £4million project which is supporting some of the most hard to reach individuals across Blackpool to move closer to the jobs market and the Positive Transitions service, working with looked after young people.
Image of Lisa Murphy, Head of Finance
Lisa began her accountancy career with Deloitte, specialising in insolvency, particularly corporate receiverships and administration. After qualifying as an Accountant in 2005, Lisa joined Blackpool Council and was later appointed Management Accountant for BCH when the company became an ALMO. As Head of Finance, Lisa oversees the monitoring of budgets within BCH as well as the Housing Revenue Account. She is responsible for providing a high quality financial service as well as developing the strategic financial management of the organisation.

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