Joining the board are Claire Blacka, Douglas Aitken, Karen Fitzsimons, Mairi Keddie and Mark McCabe. Four of the new appointees are currently serving as co-opted board members and will stand for formal election at Cairn’s Annual General Meeting on 17 September.

Mark McCabe’s nomination has also been received, and he will stand for election at the AGM.

Karen Fitzsimons is one of Scotland’s most experienced housing professionals, having held chief executive positions with major Registered Social Landlords including River Clyde Homes and Clyde Valley Housing Association. Since 2009, she has worked as a consultant specialising in governance, strategy, business planning and leadership development.

Karen has also lectured in leadership at Edinburgh Napier University and held a number of voluntary board roles, including with Shelter Scotland and Homes for Good.

Claire Blacka brings almost 30 years’ experience in social and supported housing, spanning a wide range of operational and strategic leadership roles. As a consultant, she now works with housing providers across the UK to improve resident engagement, governance and organisational assurance.

Mairi Keddie brings extensive experience in housing strategy, regulation, service improvement and digital transformation. She currently works with Wheatley Group on digital transformation initiatives and previously served for three years as a board member of the Scottish Housing Regulator. 

Douglas Aitken joins the board with significant leadership and commercial expertise. He currently serves as a non-executive director of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce and is managing director of Lochlie Construction Group.

Mark McCabe brings extensive expertise in performance management, scrutiny, audit and organisational improvement. Currently head of best value at Police Scotland, he leads the organisation’s approach to self-evaluation, organisational learning and review.

Prior to this, Mark spent more than 20 years with Audit Scotland and Communities Scotland, where he played a key role in housing inspection, performance assessment and public sector audit programmes.

Audrey Simpson, Cairn’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome five new Board members to Cairn. Collectively, they bring a wealth of experience across housing, governance, business leadership, regulation and organisational performance.

“Strong governance is fundamental to delivering high-quality services for our tenants and customers. These appointments further strengthen the Board’s skills and experience and will help support Cairn as we continue to deliver our strategic priorities and invest in homes and communities across Scotland.

“We look forward to benefiting from their expertise and to the contribution they will make in helping shape Cairn’s future.”

The new board members join Cairn at an important time for the organisation as it develops its new business plan for 2027-2030 which aims to ensure Cairn continues to focus on delivering excellent services, invest in existing homes, develop new affordable housing and ensure customers remain at the heart of decision-making.