Allsop Letting and Management strengthens Board with new Director appointments and leadership changes

Allsop Letting and Management (ALM) has made a series of senior appointments to its Board to strengthen its governance as it gears up for further growth.

Effective from July, Nicola McKernan, Mat Thompson and Simon Wilkinson-Reilly have all been promoted to Board Directors to join the ALM Board. The appointments broaden the Board's expertise across client service, operational delivery and risk management, ensuring the business remains well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of clients and residents. 
Nicola has been with ALM for 10 years, most recently as Head of Operations where she has spearheaded work to implement changes from the Renters’ Rights Act into clients’ portfolios and support the industry in understanding the new legislation. Nicola oversees the Operational department including Central Support Services, Governance, HR and the Single-Family Housing operational teams who are proud to have won the Homeviews Single-Family Housing Operator of the year award for 3 consecutive years. Nicola looks forward to continuing to grow the department with a focus on service delivery excellence, adopting new AI technologies where relevant, and a robust governance structure. 

Mat joined ALM in 2023 as Head of Health & Safety, bringing more than 15 years of experience across the real estate, facilities management and operational living sectors, including senior roles with leading purpose-built student accommodation providers. Since joining the business, he has played a key role in strengthening ALM's approach to health and safety, fire and building safety compliance. As Director of H&S and Fire Compliance, Mat will lead the strategic oversight of these functions across the business and managed portfolio, supporting clients with regulatory compliance, risk management and engagement with the Building Safety Regulator, while continuing to develop ALM's specialist building safety consultancy offering.

Finally, Simon joined ALM in 2024 as Head of Asset Management, having previously been Director of Asset Management and Director of Build to Rent at Native Residential. Simon will continue to strengthen ALM’s asset management capability, with a focus on driving portfolio performance, income growth and value creation for clients. As Director of Asset Management, Simon will lead the strategic oversight of asset performance, benchmarking, business planning and reporting, ensuring clients have clear, data-led insight and actionable recommendations across both multi-family and single-family housing portfolios.

The business has also appointed Jamie Hopkins as Non-Executive Director. Jamie brings significant operational and strategic experience gained over a distinguished career in the property sector and will provide independent counsel to support ALM's long-term growth and continued operational excellence. 

The new director appointments come as Kelly Smith is confirmed as permanent CEO. Having been named acting CEO in October 2025, Kelly was previously the business’ COO and has been with the business since 2017. Meanwhile, Andrew Boyd – Senior Partner at Allsop LLP – has been named as the new Chair of the Board following the retirement of Tim Theakston, who was until recently a consultant to Allsop. The CEO and Chair appointments reflect the growth of ALM under Kelly and the importance placed on Allsop’s operating platform by the LLP as a significant value-add service for its investor clients in the multi-family and single-family build-to-rent sectors.

ALM currently manages over 8,000 homes across the UK of behalf of 18 clients, spanning both single-family and multi-family housing schemes, having grown by 143% in the past 12 months. Kelly Smith, CEO of Allsop Letting & Management, said: "These appointments reflect the next stage in ALM's evolution. Nicola, Mat and Simon have each made a significant contribution to the business and bring deep expertise across client relationships, operations and risk management, while Jamie's strategic and operational experience will add valuable independent perspective to the Board. As we continue to grow, we're focused on doing so in a way that is sustainable, operationally excellent and centred on delivering the best possible outcomes for our clients and residents. Together, these appointments strengthen our leadership team and position us well for the opportunities ahead."

Andrew Boyd, Senior Partner at Allsop and Chair of the ALM Board, said: “Allsop Letting & Management is a market-leading build-to-rent operational platform precisely because of the exceptional talent of our team, which this round of very well-deserved promotions reflects. ALM has developed a very healthy pipeline of new schemes, and this expanded senior leadership team reporting to Kelly – who since joining ALM in 2017 has been instrumental in improving the business’ operational and now strategic performance – puts us in the best possible position to build further. The living sectors are increasingly central to Allsop as a group, and a stronger ALM – one that continues to bring in and nurture talent across operations, asset management, compliance and much more – is one that offers expertise, insight and value to all of our clients.”