John Earnshaw appointed as Head of Housing

Friday, 1 February 2008

SELECTAMARK Security Systems plc is delighted to announce that John Earnshaw has been appointed as Head of Housing.

John joins Selectamark at an exciting time and will help promote the company’s unique forensic marking product SelectaDNA, which has already proved highly successful as a theft deterrent in property marking schemes across the UK, reducing theft by up to 85% in some areas.

John said: “Selectamark is a forward-thinking company which has contributed enormously to the success of property marking schemes in social housing in the UK. In my new role, I will continue to promote the importance of these schemes, initially in the Yorkshire area and then systematically throughout the rest of the UK. It is so important to me that we, as the country’s leading forensic property marking company, take positive steps in the housing sector to beat the burglars and criminals and thereby reduce crime by over 85%.”

John comes with over 40 years experience in the housing sector and his impressive volume of work has won him a number of industry awards including the Empty Homes Agency’s National Award in 2001 for the ‘Best Strategy for tackling Low Demand’ in Kirklees, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

This strategy was based on the pioneering Kirklees/Camden housing partnership and was the start of moving council tenants out of London to Kirklees.

John started his career as a trainee housing manager at Mexborough local council, south Yorkshire in 1964. He then moved to Barnsley council, where he was area housing manager for 20 years.

He continued to hold a variety of similar management posts with other local authorities and housing associations in the Yorkshire region before moving to Kirklees council in 1997.

John has also run housing courses, seminars and workshops for a number of organizations including the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA).

He has also advised the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Federation of Housing Associations on issues such as marketing empty properties, low demand and social housing.

John also made a significant contribution to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s (ODPM) 'Empty Property - Unlocking the potential' implementation handbook, which was published in 2003.

He ran a workshop entitled ‘Making Unattractive Houses into Homes’ at the CIH National Homeless & Lettings Conference in 2003; and has addressed national and regional conferences, including the CIH Annual Conference in 2004.

Also in 2004, John was invited to submit a paper on Low Demand to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Social Housing Conference in Vienna.

Jim Brown, chairman of Selectamark, said: “We welcome John’s appointment as our advisor on housing matters and couldn’t ask for someone with better experience and knowledge of the sector.

“John has seen SelectaDNA used in police property marking schemes on numerous occasions, particularly in northern England. He is impressed with its effectiveness and feels that it is a vital tool in the reduction and prevention of theft from homes across the whole of the UK.”