Places for People has appointed Steve Ashton as its first Group Partnerships Director.

Steve will lead Places for People’s strategy for everything related to mergers, acquisitions, contract negotiations and Group-level partnerships.

Steve has over 20 years' experience of partner management in regulated sectors and will also lead the development of best practice in partnership management, contract negotiation and contract management across the group companies.


As Head of Partnership at MBNA/Bank of America, Steve managed relationships with some of the world’s biggest brands and then at HomeServe UK, where he became Chief Partnerships Officer, Steve was responsible for developing and leading strategic partnerships with organisations such as Aviva, Eon and Severn Trent Water. Steve also led acquisitions for HomeServe UK.

Commenting on Steve's appointment, Greg Reed, Group CEO of Places for People, said: "Steve is a great hire for us. He will be the go-to person for partnerships in the organisation. There is some great practice being undertaken right now, some great examples of excellent work, and Steve will add his experience and expertise to this to ensure that we are joining all the dots right across Places for People and that in all our partnership engagement, we’re operationally efficient and we’re maximising all our opportunities."