The two Boards have recently agreed an outline business case, allowing more detailed conversations and due diligence to progress.

The proposal is that, initially, Shepards Bush Housing Group (SBHG) will operate as a subsidiary of The Guinness Partnership. This will ensure continuity for customers and colleagues, whilst preserving the SBHG brand and heritage across west London.

By bringing our two organisations together SBHG will be better placed to deliver more reliable and consistent investment in its existing homes at a greater pace, improve services to customers and develop more affordable homes for the residents of west London.

Founded in 1890, Guinness has a strong record of growth and regeneration, with circa 64,000 homes across the country.

Created in 1966 by members of St Stephen’s Church in Shepherds Bush, SBHG owns and manages more than 5,000 homes, throughout nine boroughs in west London.

Andrew Warner, SBHG Interim CEO, said: “We’re committed to improving the quality of our homes. This exciting new partnership will strengthen our ability to improve our residents’ homes at a greater pace, whilst allowing us to also provide more affordable homes to west London, delivering a better service for our customers. Guinness has a strong social purpose and, like SBHG, is a values driven organisation. Together, we share a commitment to investing in the local community. Our customers will benefit from our combined strength and increased resilience. Through this partnership we will be able to deliver more for residents, customers and communities across west London.”

Martin Hurst, SBHG Chair, said: “SBHG remains a viable independent business and following our downgrade by the Regulator of Social Housing last year we have made great progress with our governance recently. We want to build on our progress to do more for our residents by investing in their homes, communities and building much needed affordable housing, which will remain challenging if we stay independent. Guinness is an organisation that has a strong record of growth, regeneration and investing in the communities they operate in. This partnership will allow us to improve the communities our customers live in, ensures long term investment in our homes and provides more housing in west London.”

Catriona Simons, Group Chief Executive of The Guinness Partnership, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as SBHG’s partner for the future.  We have a complementary presence in west London – more importantly both organisations have a strong social purpose and a shared commitment to the communities in which we operate.  Bringing SBHG into the Guinness family will increase the impact we both have in west London and deliver more for SBHG and Guinness residents.”

Chris Wilson, Chair of The Guinness Partnership Board, said: “The values of Guinness and SBHG are very much aligned, with a strong social purpose at the core of both organisations. We have a strong presence in London – this partnership will provide opportunities to deliver more homes in an area where demand far outstrips supply and further improve the efficiency of our customer service.”

Both boards and Executive Teams are working closely together, ensuring residents, employees, and stakeholders are kept informed at all key stages. Subject to due diligence SBHG and Guinness hope to complete the partnership in Autumn 2023.

We will be communicating with and involving our customers, colleagues and stakeholders over the coming months with SBHG shareholders being asked to formally approve the partnership later in 2023.