Chris Tinker, former Interim CEO at Crest Nicholson, one of three key appointments at Cratus Communications

As part of our continued expansion, we have made three key appointments at Cratus Communications.

Former Interim CEO and Group Board Director at Crest Nicholson, Chris Tinker, joins Cratus as a Non-Executive Director after 32 years with the leading FTSE 250 housebuilder. An experienced board director and widely influential within the sector, Chris has extensive experience in regeneration, strategic land, and partnership development.

Before his retirement from Crest Nicholson in Dec 2019, Chris had responsibility for overseeing the company’s £3bn portfolio of regional regeneration projects and £5bn strategic land and garden village portfolio. He had also held key directorial roles at the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership and The Housing Forum and was Chair of the HBF Majors Sub Committee.

The second high-profile appointment is Bristol Councillor, Paul Smith, who will provide both strategic advice on the delivery of affordable housing, and support and counsel to housing associations and registered providers.

Paul joins Cratus’ renowned team of associates, which includes Steve Quartermain, former Chief Planner, Dame Mary Ney, DBE, Chief Executive of The Royal Borough of Greenwich between 2000 and 2014, and once Secretary of State of Health, Stephen Dorrell. 

Paul is the Cabinet Member for Housing at Bristol City Council, with responsibility for delivering the Mayor’s ambitious housing strategy. His remit includes radically increasing house building in the city, over-seeing the Council’s stock of 27,500 homes, and spearheading Bristol’s drive to prevent and reduce homelessness. Paul also sits on the Housing Ombudsman Advisory Panel and is a member of the board of Connexus Housing Group.  

To ensure that his work does not conflict with his role as a councillor or his cabinet position on Bristol City Council, Paul will not be undertaking any assignments in Bristol or within the West of England Combined Authority.

Joining Chris Tinker and Paul Smith is Candy Richards who takes up the role of Senior Account Manager. A marketing and PR professional with extensive experience within local government, the voluntary sector, and housing, Candy joins Cratus from This Land, Cambridgeshire County Council’s development arm. Candy will lead Cratus PR alongside Sean Anstee, Executive Director for Advisory, Public Affairs and PR at Cratus. Anstee is a former Leader of Trafford Council, and was awarded a CBE for services to Local Government in 2019. 

 In announcing these appointments, Nick Kilby, Chief Executive of Cratus Communications said:

 “As a leading local government public affairs and communications agency, I am delighted to welcome three such key appointments for Cratus.

Chris, Paul, and Candy bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and expertise to Cratus, and are genuinely passionate about local government, housing, and regeneration. This is a tremendously exciting time in Cratus’ evolution as we continue to attract the most talented and influential people in the sector to our team.

I am incredibly proud of Cratus’ continued growth and my teams’ commitment to helping clients navigate the public sector and develop productive relationships with key players across local government.”