A non-lawyer housing specialist has been named interim chief executive of the Law Society ahead of Catherine Dixon’s departure tomorrow.

Paul Tennant has worked for various housing associations since 1982 and most recently was chief executive of Orbit Group.

A past president of the Chartered Institute of Housing, last year he received an OBE for services to housing.

Ms Dixon resigned less than a month ago, citing her frustrations with the speed of governance reform at the Law Society. President Robert Bourns told Legal Futures last week that the breaking point seemed to be the decision that Ms Dixon would not have voting rights on the new main board.

There will be no handover, as Mr Tennant does not start until next Monday.

Mr Bourns said: “I am delighted to be working with Paul Tennant whilst we finalise arrangements for recruiting a permanent chief executive for the organisation.

“Paul has been chief executive of a large and complex housing organisation but also has a clear understanding of non-executive leadership roles, having been president of the Chartered Institute of Housing. This perspective will be helpful as we consider future ways of working.

“We have a clear business plan for the year focused on understanding and serving our members, transforming our IT and improving our efficiency and Paul will be working with our executive team to deliver our plans…

“I will say more about the recruitment of a permanent chief executive in due course and in the meantime thank Catherine Dixon for her hard and effective work with the society.”