New chairman appointed at the National Landlords Association

Adrian Jeakings has been appointed as the new chairman of the National Landlords Association (NLA), it has been announced.

Jeakings joined the board of directors in June 2016 as a non-executive director and brings over 25 years’ experience at board level in both executive and non-executive roles. He is also non-executive audit advisory chair at the Norse Group and a member of the appointments panel at the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

His prior experience includes three years as president of the Newspaper Society and chairman of the News Media Association. During his professional career he spent six years as chief executive officer of Archant, and has 20 years’ experience in chief financial officer and director roles at various organisations.

He replaces Carolyn Uphill who has been chairman since July 2013. During her time as chairman she oversaw the growth of the organisation, with an increase of 16,000 paying members. In total the NLA now works with 81,000 landlords, up from 39,000 from 2013.

Jeakings is keen to continue to build the NLA’s voice and authority. ‘Carolyn has been a fantastic Chairman, and the growth of the NLA during her tenure has been great to see. I’d like to thank her for the all her hard work, and to praise her for the dedication and passion she has shown in standing up for landlords and championing the important role they play in providing much needed homes,’ he said.

‘I too want to put our members at the heart of everything we do and my focus will be to ensure that they have the support they need to make a success of renting homes. I look forward to helping the organisation continue to grow our membership and to improve our strength in numbers, which I believe is crucial if we want to enhance our authority and better assert the landlord’s perspective to policy makers and in public debate,’ he added.

Uphill pointed out that the private rented sector has witnessed a lot of change over the last five years. ‘Chairing the organisation and watching it grow and develop in such turbulent circumstances has had its challenges, but has been a privilege and an honour,’ she said.

‘There will continue to be many challenges ahead, but I’m certain that under Adrian’s leadership, the NLA will continue to grow to support the needs of landlords across the UK,’ she added.