Our Board Directors
Dr Scott Jennings (User Director, Chair) is an active figure in the student co-operative sector. He set up the Nottingham Student Housing Co-op, and has been an active member supporting the Co-operative to this day. He project managed the creation of Student Co-op Homes. He is a director of the Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH). His involvement in co-operative housing organisations, at a local level and in national federations, has taught him a range of governance skills as well as stakeholder engagement and communication strategy across a breadth of contexts. Scott has also led on international relationship building with North American Student Co-operatives (NASCO) and other organisations to take on best practice and promote a more interlinked global movement. Scott brings his collection of experience and dedication to help drive SCH forward and establish new student housing co-ops of different shapes, sizes and structures.
Benito Matischen (User Director) has been a member of Manchester Student Housing Co-operative (MaSH) since February 2022. MaSH is a formative housing co-op working with Student Co-op Homes to acquire a property and offer a co-operative solution to student housing in Manchester. As a member of MaSH, Benito has contributed to organising social events to promote the co-op and finding potential properties, and is the MaSH delegate to SCH. He is active in SCH’s membership services working group.
Stewart Holroyd (User Director) was a member of Birmingham Student Housing Co-operative between June 2019 and April 2023. BSHC has been offering landlord free accommodation to students in Birmingham since July 2014. During their time at BSHC Stewart developed a multitude of new skills from financial budgeting to DIY plumbing and decorating! Over their years at the co-op, they held several different positions, most notably as co-op Secretary. They are most proud of the effort put into refurbishing BSHC’s downstairs bathroom making it more accessible and in helping to develop and maintain BSHC’s website.
Vivian Woodell (Supporter/Investor Director) has extensive experience in co-operative entrepreneurship. He was the founder of The Phone Co-op and served as its chief executive for 19 years. He is currently the CEO of The Phone Co-op Foundation for Co-operative Innovation and Vice President of The Midcounties Co-operative Ltd., as well as a non-executive director of Co-operatives UK, The Co-operative Loan Fund and West Oxfordshire Community Transport Limited. He also serves on the board of the Co-operative College Trust. Vivian has been supporting the student housing co-operative sector since the beginning, notably through the acquisition of properties by The Phone Co-op for Birmingham and Sheffield student housing co-ops.
Mikey Brown
Mikey Brown (User Director) is a Director and Treasurer of Birmingham Student Housing Co-operative, where has lived since July 2020. He is a keen activist for affordable, safe and well-maintained student housing and believes passionately that the Co-operative sector is the ideal solution to the problems of the private rental market. A mature student, he has experience in the private sector managing teams and delivering process changes to drive efficiency as well as in negotiation as a litigation executive. He served as President of the University of Birmingham Guild of Students 2021-22, a platform he used to advocate on behalf of the student body on a wide range of social and political issues.
Martin Meteyard (Supporter/ Investor Director) has worked in various capacities in the co-operative movement for almost 40 years, including 15 years in GreenCity Wholefoods worker co-operative in Glasgow (ending up as general manager), six years as Scottish Secretary of the Co-operative Group, and most recently as a co-operative development consultant. As Scottish co-ordinator of the Co-operative Enterprise Hub he worked with the founders of Students for Co-operation and then with Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative, where he did the financial projections for their successful business plan and became a member of their advisory group.
John Dalley
John Dalley (Supporter/Investor Director) has a variety of experience in the co-op movement having previously worked for Scotmid Coop and been a member of The Coop Group’s National Members Council and Senate. He is currently a non-executive director of a Co-operative & Community Benefit Society Housing Association.
Danny Hardman
Danny Hardman (Supporter/ Investor Director) brings over 15 years of financial experience to Student Co-op Homes. Danny serves as the Director of Audit & Compliance for UPS’s clinical trial supply chain business, bringing expertise across finance, taxation, accounting, and auditing. He sits on the finance sub-committee of Student Co-op Homes.
Matthew James
Matthew James (MJ) Quill (User Director) has been a member of the Cork Student Housing Co-operative, the first group attempting to set up a student housing co-operative in the Republic of Ireland since 2021. They have been involved in the student co-operative movement through the University College Cork Co-operative & Community Action Society, which they were the chairperson of in 2022 where they co-ordinated events such as a panel discussion in UCC featuring representatives from Student Co-op Homes and the Belfast Student Housing Co-operative to increase student awareness of the co-operative model. More recently, they have contributed to national student policy regarding student housing co-operatives through work conducted with the Union of Students in Ireland, in their capacity as the UCC Student’s Union Postgraduate Representative.
May Armstrong
May Armstrong (User Director) has been a member of Glasgow Student Housing Cooperative for the past 2 years. They have contributed to property searching and representing Glasgow Student Housing Cooperative at national conferences and the Scottish Parliament cross party working group on cooperatives, and at a local level to make links with other Glasgow based cooperatives to support each other in providing opportunities and mutual aid to grow the cooperative movement locally to regain its historical strength whilst looking to the future. They are undertaking their dissertation research on how Glasgow Student Housing Cooperative can make progress in a hostile environment by looking for support in the cooperative community and how to creatively search for property opportunities not available to landlords and which will benefit the community surrounding the student housing cooperative.
Paid contractors
Lisa Hartley (Operations Manager) joined SCH in Spring 2021 on a part time self-employed basis. She has been working with student co-operatives for over eight years, and brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role. Her initial experience with student led co-operatives was through supporting food and bike co-operatives at Brighton Students’ Union in 2016. In February 2018, she recruited a group of students and helped to set up SEASALT Housing Co-operative. She worked with SEASALT as their Community Housing Enabler for 3.5 years, in partnership with Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust (BHCLT). Lisa was involved throughout the SEASALT journey; including registration, business planning, policy making, community engagement, and a successful community share offer which raised over £300k. Following the share offer, BHCLT purchased an eight bed property in Brighton, and now lease it to SEASALT, who moved into the property in September 2021.