Meet Our Board of Directors
Steve Davies - Chief Executive Officer
Steve’s Role and Background
Steve Davies is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Novus Property Solutions. Steve is an accomplished business transformation leader with a proven track record of delivering exceptional results within facilities and asset management, engineering, leisure and business services markets.
Prior to joining Novus, Steve held Managing Director and Group Board roles in Serco Group Plc, Compass Group Plc and Kier Group Plc. allowing him to bring unique insights from the heart of the construction and maintenance sectors to his role as CEO.
What is Steve Responsible For?
Steve holds overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the business and its day-to-day operation. His extensive industry experience makes him an ideal fit for Novus and Steve will lead Novus towards achieving our strategic targets over the next 5 years and beyond.
These include doubling profits by 2026 – with the strategic plan centred on three key themes: Novus’ people and culture, building revenue, and continuous improvement.
Hobbies and Interests
Steve is married to Julia and has a son called Alex. Family is really important to him so outside of work spending time with them is Steve’s first priority.
Steve is a keen sportsman, having played schoolboy football for Wolverhampton Wanderers (who he still supports today) in addition to badminton, squash and tennis at County level. He focusses his efforts now on golf playing off single figures.
Lee Hartley - Executive Director
Lee’s Role and Background
Lee Hartley is one of our Executive Directors and a shining example of our approach to growing our own talent.
Although growing up wanting to be a Firefighter, Lee found himself working on building sites as a general labourer and developed an interest in construction. This interest grew into Lee choosing construction as the career for him and he joined the Seddon family business as a trainee QS back in 1996.
Since joining us Lee has worked through the ranks holding various commercial and operational roles prior to being appointed to our Board in 2013. Since this appointment he has held various board positions including Chief Operating Officer prior to his current role as Executive Director.
What is Lee Responsible For?
With overall responsibility for Operational Delivery, Health & Safety and Transport, a typical day for Lee is focused on ensuring the business has the correct people, processes and tools to deliver the services we offer, monitoring operational performance and engaging with clients to understand their needs.
Outside of these day-to-day tasks Lee works with the rest of the board to develop and implement strategic plans that support our clients and customers requirements.
Hobbies and Interests
Away from the working environment Lee is kept busy entertaining his three children, but when he can find time to do so, enjoys watching his beloved Sheffield Wednesday FC and playing golf.
Family time is important to Lee and he enjoys family holidays in particular, with his favourite destination being the Caribbean, although anywhere hot that has a beach, pool and bar will do!
Steve Oldroyd - Finance Director and Company Secretary
Steve’s Role and Background
Steve Oldroyd is our Finance Director and Company Secretary, joining Novus in September 2020. Steve was drawn to Novus by the strong family ethos of the company, great management team and clear strategy for growth.
Bringing a wealth of experience to the Novus Board, Steve has spent a significant part of his career in WYG, the international professional services company, as well as Findel Education, and Deloitte.
Steve settled on a career within maintenance and construction as it appeals to his desire to be part of something that creates a real difference for local communities.
What is Steve Responsible For?
Steve’s role involves a variety of tasks throughout any given day. These may include analysing our financial performance, reviewing cash and working capital, and managing our legal and commercial risks.
Alongside this, Steve manages an experienced and hard working finance team. And, as a Novus Director, he is heavily involved with Board-level decisions, such as the strategic direction of the business.
Hobbies and Interests
Like many colleagues, Steve enjoys spending time with his family. When he needs to disconnect, Steve reads, or as a keen cyclist, will get out into the fresh air for a bike ride.
Steve is also a lifelong Manchester United fan and (like most of us) enjoys holidaying anywhere warm and sunny. He is particularly fond of California due to its beautiful landscape and warm climate.
Matt Hiley - Executive Director
Matt’s Role and Background
Matt Hiley is one of our Executive Directors and joined Novus in April 2020. Matt is a highly talented and experienced member of the Board, having held similar positions at Kier and ISS prior to joining Novus.
Matt’s father was a painter and decorator and first introduced Matt to the construction and maintenance sector, by telling him that “he needed to have a skill for life and the construction industry would always be around.”
Subsequently, Matt found his calling as a Quantity Surveyor and hasn’t looked back since, forging a great career, working all over the UK and abroad on construction projects of all sizes.
What is Matt Responsible For?
Matt currently oversees our Marketing, Business Development, Bidding and Estimating and Supply Chain functions.
These responsibilities make Matt’s role extremely varied. At any given time, he could be moving between client meetings, generating bids or reviewing our forward pipeline for our growth strategy.
Hobbies and Interests
Matt describes his two sons as “bundles of energy who are totally obsessed with football,” therefore the majority of his time is spent with them at training and matches.
When he gets a spare moment to himself, Matt also enjoys keeping fit, bike riding (weather permitting), and cooking for his family.
David Leach - Executive Director
David’s Role and Background
David Leach is one of our Executive Directors and joined Novus in January 2021.
David is an extremely valuable asset to Novus, bringing his expertise in Transformation, Leadership & Business Partnering to the company.
Having successfully led cross functional teams to innovate using data and technology to achieve a culture shift, David enables Novus to continually improve its operational excellence and further its growth.
David has worked across a wide range of sectors including Logistics, Financial Services, Customer Services, Property Management and House Building in the past, but it was the history, family values, growth ambitions, and the opportunity for digital transformation that attracted him to Novus.
What is David Responsible For?
Alongside being responsible for the People Services and I.T side of the business, David’s role consists of analysing and evaluating how current technology and business processes within Novus are working for colleagues, and he ensures that major projects within the organisation are progressing on-time and on-track.
In addition, part of David’s role is to identify potential pain-points and improvement opportunities, to make the business run more efficiently and effectively.
Hobbies and Interests
Away from work David enjoys keeping fit, with cycling, running, and walking his dog amongst his active hobbies. His family also play their part in keeping David’s time well occupied away from Novus.
David cites Cornwall as one of his favourite places to visit, saying that “it doesn’t matter what time of the year you visit, the beaches and dog walks are fantastic.”
Michelle Owen - Non-Executive Chair
Michelle’s Role and Background
Michelle is Chairperson of Novus Property Solutions and also performs the roles of Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Group Finance Director. She has worked for the JSSH Group since its formation in 2013 initially as Group Finance Director and later in her wider role.
She works closely with the shareholding family and represents their interests in the business, helping to ensure it is managed in line with their shared purpose.
Michelle’s background is in finance having trained and qualified with KPMG. A large part of her career has been in corporate finance advising boards of directors on mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and flotations.
What is Michelle Responsible For?
As Chairperson of Novus Property Solutions, Michelle’s primary role is to ensure that the board is effective in its task of setting and implementing the company’s direction and strategy. She is responsible for determining the composition and structure of the board and its development.
She ensures effective communication with shareholders and stakeholders and provides support to Steve as CEO of Novus.
Hobbies and Interests
Michelle has a young daughter who she devotes her spare time and energy to along with her partner, Alex. She enjoys gardening, cooking, long walks with the dog, running, sunny beaches and pubs with roaring fires in winter. She also loves to be near the sea and values any time she can spend paddleboarding or attempting to surf.
Sophie Seddon-Hall - Non-Executive Director
Sophie’s Background
Sophie is a Non-Executive Director and a shareholder of JSSH. She started in the business over ten years ago as Marketing Assistant and progressed through the company whilst successfully completing a business management degree along the way. During the course of her career, Sophie has been responsible for the business’ marketing, people, corporate responsibility and customer functions.
What is Sophie Responsible For?
As Non-Executive Director, Sophie acts as a critical friend to the executive team and ensures the business is living its values as well as delivering on its strategy. Sophie is very interested in Novus’ people strategies particularly aspects including diversity, sustainability and ensuring that we leave a positive impact in everything we do. She is also extremely passionate about customer experience and innovation. As well as her involvement with Novus, Sophie is also a board trustee for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).
Hobbies and Interests
Away from the working environment Sophie loves to read and take part in a variety of sports including skiing, running, tennis, yoga and horse riding. She also enjoys cooking and eating out with family and friends as well as spending time with her two daughters and pets.
