What people say

We are happy to provide references from our extensive list of past and current clients. Below are some quotes from clients, reproduced with the permission of those concerned:

"Hereward Housing asked Greg Campbell and his team to look at the full range of our internal and external communications. As a result of the team's findings, we were able to produce a focused communications strategy enabling us to target new audiences with sharper, more appropriate publications. We also redesigned our corporate style, at the same time achieving savings in printing costs".
Nick Abbey, Chief Executive, Hereward Housing.

"I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to you, to Niku and to all the consultants who have helped us prepare for inspection. There is no doubt CT have added an enormous amount of value to the process and helped keep us sane at the same time! Fantastic job, we couldn't really have asked for more."
Jacque Allen, Trafford Housing Trust.

"Niku Mawby and Zaidee O'Dell have a wealth of practical experience and have added significant value in all the areas where they have worked with Victory Housing Trust. This work has included supporting our Road to Excellence service improvement project and providing 'hands on' Audit Commission Inspection support. At the end of the day the proof is in the pudding and Niku and Zaidee have delivered exactly what we needed, when we needed it - a responsive, professional, value adding service, delivered to challenging timescales."
John Archibald, Chief Executive, Victory Housing Trust.

"On behalf of Arhag, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Campbell Tickell (specifically Greg Campbell and Matthew Butterfield) for the excellent way they managed our recent recruitment process for a new Chief Executive. They made a very intensive process seem easy and seamless as it moved through the various stages. This is the third time we have used Campbell Tickell for recruiting a Chief Executive (two permanent recruitments and one interim) and on each occasion their professionalism and vast knowledge of the sector have contributed significantly to the efficient way the recruitment was managed. We have had a big response from applicants resulting in an excellent appointment being made. I also found that their cost offered exceptional value for money when compared with other similar companies an important aspect given the tough economic situation we are all facing. Finally, they were so relaxed and friendly and just a pleasure to work with. I certainly look forward to working with them again in the future and would wholeheartedly recommend them to any organisation and would like to express most sincere thanks to the team at Campbell Tickell for a job well done!"
Barrington Billings, Chair, Arhag Housing Association.

"I have used Campbell Tickell over a number of years and I am very happy to recommend them. Most recently we have been working with them on providing additional support around governance and working with our Board as facilitator for away days. As a TMO it is important to understand the key role residents play not just at a Board level but throughout the organisation and Radojka Miljevic has been great at working formally with our Board but also being involved in helping deliver our residents conference and working with our residents to shape our Resident Offer."
Robert Black, Chief Executive, Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you both on behalf of the board & Arhag for facilitating a productive and successful strategic planning day. I found the event most useful in shaping our future direction and liked the ease with which you were able to tease out the essence of the day's objectives. These are challenging times for all and the decision Arhag has made will help to set the future direction in which the organisation will travel. I look forward to the next phase of our development and hope that the work you have done with us will go a long way into the future and history of Arhag."
Barrington Billings, Chair, ARHAG Housing Association.

"Hastoe has benefited considerably from Niku Mawby's depth of experience on equality and diversity issues and the manner in which she has skillfully tailored the delivery to meet the needs of people across the organisation, from Board members to customer facing staff such as caretakers. Niku's training was highly motivational and, importantly, seen to be relevant and worthwhile for the business. One example feedback comment is: 'Excellent - the approach was refreshing and stimulating'."
Sue Chalkley, Chief Executive, Hastoe Housing Association.

"Ben Wilson was such a hit with the Management Committee last time that he is our first choice to facilitate this next away day!"
Sara Clarke, Chief Executive, Jewish Community Housing Association.

"I can thoroughly recommend Campbell Tickell for sourcing high quality interims and assisting with permanent recruitment."
Tom Dacey, Group Chief Executive, Southern Housing Group.

"Campbell Tickell have undertaken two significant consultancy projects for Lee Housing Association. One was a strategic review to determine Lee HA's commitment and capacity to deliver considerable service and governance improvement in a timely manner. The other was to assist Lee HA to select a development partner which would best represent its interests. In both cases Campbell Tickell demonstrated considerable knowledge of the sector and the specific issues under consideration. Their experience and knowledge was of critical importance in assisting us to refine the brief. Both projects were completed to a high standard, with detail reports which were supported by a professional presentation to the Board. My Board have commented: 'Two excellent projects by Campbell Tickell, very thorough, delivered to a high standard, achieving deadlines and representing value for money'."
Donald Douglas, Chief Executive, Lee Housing Association.

"City West appointed Campbell Tickell to assist in the recruitment of a Chair for the Board. The project was led by Greg Campbell and he and his team provided an extremely high quality service. We were delighted with the wide range of excellent candidates who applied for the position and were able to make a first class appointment. The communication from Greg and his colleagues was extremely good and a complex process ran very smoothly in relation to the demanding timescales that had been put in place. I would have no hesitation in recommending Campbell Tickell to other organisations."
Tim Doyle, Chief Executive, City West Housing Trust.

"Greg's organisation have never failed us in helping us to recruit first class senior staff. They filter the time-wasters from the serious candidates and the support provided during the entire process is faultless."
Laurence Fowler-Stevens, Company Secretary, The Abbeyfield Kent Society.

"James Tickell's governance work ably steered our Board's thinking. The framework he generated with them was relevant and sharp, and can only benefit our work with homeless and vulnerable people. James gets our thanks for invigorating the Board, who very much look forward to working with him again."
Charles Fraser, Chief Executive, St Mungo's.

"We engaged Campbell Tickell to help us prepare for our Audit Commission inspection. Their mystery shopping and staff focus groups highlighted where we had made progress, but more importantly it helped us to see the work we needed to focus on in the 9 months leading up to the inspection. A special thanks to Niku, Zaidee and Annie for their help."
Charlotte Graves, Chief Executive, Hackney Homes.

"Last autumn we engaged Karen Patten of Campbell Tickell to review our draft submission for an important tender. Karen's review proved to be invaluable to us, pointing out areas of strength and suggesting areas for improvement in a helpful and constructive manner. Her extensive experience of tenders from both a provider and commissioner perspective was crucial in helping us achieve the required standard. In the end we were delighted to hear that our tender had been accepted, and that we scored very highly in the process. I would be delighted to recommend Karen for similar reviews in the future."
Jeremy Gray, Chief Executive, South London YMCA.

"Many thanks for providing such a good service in our search for a new Board Member. The quality of the interviewees and the process overall were excellent."
Adam Humphryes, Chair, CityWest Homes.

"Identifying good quality senior people is difficult. Using their extensive knowledge of the housing world Campbell Tickell were able to identify a number of excellent candidates for Group Director with responsibility for our supported housing business. They organised the whole process efficiently and we were delighted with the outcome."
David Jepson, Group Deputy Chief Executive, The Riverside Group.

"Our association was at a cross-roads. We needed to work out whether we should remain independent, join up with a similar-sized, local association, or join forces with a larger one. James swiftly produced a highly informed and informative report, setting out our options for the future. The report took into account the drivers of our organisation, and our key objectives. As a result, we could eliminate those ideas that were inappropriate for us, and explore the more promising ones. James's report enabled us to move forward better informed, more quickly and with the benefit of an independent expert."
Alison Knocker, Chair, Riverhaven.

"The report that Radojka Miljevic from Campbell Tickell produced on support for small housing associations and the role of representative bodies has been extremely useful in helping the CCH develop its partnership working with the Tenant Services Authority. This will lead to the development of good practice guidance tailored to the specific needs of housing co-operatives."
Blase Lambert, Confederation of Co-operative Housing.

"Campbell Tickell has made a real effort to get to know us and the community we serve. Their support with PR and communications has resulted in a significant increase in our profile and has helped us achieve important results in work with key partners and stakeholders."
Geoff Lewis, Chief Executive, Barnsbury Housing Association.

"Helen Gregory from Campbell Tickell developed the project and worked with staff to set up a customer centric Income Management Service at Thrive Homes that supports customers who are about to become tenants and then to maintain their tenancy for as long as they wish to continue it. She brought a wealth of knowledge and good practice to the project but also a very practical understanding of the challenges involved in developing a new way of working. This was a tremendous support to staff and gave them the confidence to persevere in establishing an effective team. Helen has an easy accessible style of working that enables her to work with both customers and staff throughout the organisation. The project was delivered on time, on budget and achieved its objective."
Elspeth Mackenzie, Chief Executive, Thrive Homes.

"We found Campbell Tickell helpful and thoroughly professional; in fact the consultant was a pleasure to work with, helping us achieve our objectives within budget. We received an excellent service and shall certainly use Campbell Tickell's services in the future."
Ian Martin, Director of Housing & Community Services, Christian Action Housing.

"We have enjoyed working with Niku Mawby and Zaidee O'Dell on the development of our new Diversity Strategy and Action Plan. Their knowledge of best practice, their ability to challenge in a constructive way and to consult with a range of different stakeholders has resulted in a strategy which we think will have a real impact on our work over the next three years."
Maeve McAvock, Director of Housing, Octavia Housing & Care.

"We employed Greg Campbell Management Consultancy to project manage our succession strategy. During a complex period of consultation and negotiation, Greg kept a firm hand on the tiller. His clear view of the bigger picture helped us significantly in delivering a very successful outcome. He proved to be a very safe pair of hands."
Ian McDermott, Chief Executive, Stonebridge Housing Action Trust.

"Thank you ever so much for your help and for assembling a great selection of potential candidates for our Board, to allow us a really good choice."
Bruce Moore, Chief Executive, Hanover.

"The new written style and structure which James developed for the Charity Commission have really helped to broaden the appeal of our publications, and improve our ability to reach a much wider audience. In just 14 weeks we've had orders for 40,000 copies of the first publication he wrote for us - a huge increase on the usual levels of demand. This work is an important contribution to our effectiveness as a regulator. He produced all this very quickly for us and we've had many unprompted compliments on the clarity of the guidance."
Nick Mott, Head of Publications and Guidance, the Charity Commission.

"Our Board away day was transformed thanks to James's excellent contribution."
Richard Newby, Chairman, Black Country Housing & Community Services Group.

"We have consulted Campbell Tickell on a number of occasions for our recruitment needs and cannot fault the service received. The standard of candidate was impressive and relevant to our operation. They have been excellent in assisting us to overcome some difficult recruitment issues both quickly and professionally. We would recommend their services very highly."
Nigel Parrington, Chief Executive, Salvation Army Housing Association.

"Niku, I just wanted to thank you for the excellent work you and your team have done for mhs on the inspection (although I know you haven't finished yet). Colleagues across the organisation have been energised by the process and you have done exactly what we hoped for when we set out on this journey. We've been challenged, we've learned from the process, and we have a solid basis for service improvements. The feedback today was most helpful and really gave a good sense of where we are; and Directors Team was hugely impressed with how much you and the team have been able to assimilate in such a relatively short time. Please could you convey my thanks to Zaidee, Jonathan and Sandra. I look forward to receiving the full report in due course and to continuing to work with you."
Caroline Proverbs, Operations Director, mhs homes group.

"Over the past few years, Campbell Tickell has worked closely with Phoenix on several key projects. Always helpful and ever resourceful, they have led or provided support across the consultancy spectrum from recruitment to operational process reviews. Their knowledge of the sector and its people contributes immensely to the value that they bring on all their projects.

We remain grateful for their review of our executive structure and the consequent recruitment on our behalf of three of our executive directors. In particular, the recruitment model that CT offers is very competitive. They out priced the competition and offered several flexible options - from managed campaign to assisted campaigns. The expertise that the indomitable Clare Roberts added on our panel remains invaluable and one we rely on for every critical senior recruitment campaign at Phoenix. Thank you CT!"
Pria Rai, Head of HR, Phoenix Community Housing.

"The report you have prepared is an excellent piece of work. It is clear and the recommendations easily implementable ... a ready to use document."
Richard Renwick, Chief Executive, Tuntum Housing Association.

"We needed to ascertain the baseline levels of awareness of the Housing Ombudsman Service from its users and key stakeholders, and to review whether there were any factors which precluded access to the Service by those who are entitled to it. Campbell Tickell carried out imaginative and thorough research involving tenants, landlords, and a range of agencies who affect the way the Service operates. The outcomes were robust and well presented, enabling us to incorporate into both our strategic thinking and our current operational plans many of the pointers suggested by the research. We were particularly grateful that CT gave a presentation on the research findings at a public meeting organised by the Service, and answered questions from users and stakeholders directly."
Rafael Runco, Deputy Housing Ombudsman.

"I want to thank you and your team for the excellent work undertaken over the past year on Housing Management market testing. This has been a complex and challenging project, at the boundaries of innovative approaches to modern housing management, and I am immensely grateful to you all for the successful result now being obtained from ODPM in time for the contracts to go live on the due date, 1 April."
Robin Smith, Assistant Director of Housing, London Borough of Hackney.

"Radojka Miljevic accepted the assignment of taking our Board through self-assessment, a task it had undertaken dutifully for years. With her perceptive and bold use of the survey returns from individual members bringing out the key questions for us and pushing for answers, we came out of the event with a handsome list of actions to pursue. There's a new energy and sense of common purpose, and I'd have to give Radojka real credit for bringing that out of us."
Roz Spencer, Chief Executive, Stadium Housing Association.

"We asked Campbell Tickell to consider the various options open to Thames Reach Bondway through which we could increase our financial strength and independence. The resulting report comprehensively and thoughtfully considered the range of options and included clear and challenging recommendations. As part of the work Campbell Tickell contacted a number of Thames Reach Bondway's key stakeholders and their diplomatic and astute questioning provided some rich information to back the research and its conclusions. Greg Campbell then presented the findings from the research at a full Thames Reach Bondway Board meeting which led to an excellent, productive debate."
Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive, Thames Reach Bondway.

"Campbell Tickell has been a very helpful resource of knowledge and expertise for our association. External advice and challenge is of particular value in the process of establishing a new association; and our strong progress has been recognised by a '2 star with excellent prospects' rating by the Audit Commission."
Caroline Titley, Chief Executive, Bracknell Forest Homes.

"James Tickell opened the National Housing Maintenance Forum conference in January 2011 by looking at the policies of the new Coalition government and their likely affect on social housing. He gave a witty and incisive analysis of the changes we can expect, explaining the thinking that lies behind them, and the impact they might have. His presentation was very well received by an audience of maintenance managers, and the contractors and consultants that they work with. It was sympathetic to their concerns, and clear about the challenges and opportunities they are likely to face."
Dave Treanor, NHMF Secretary.

"Takes trouble to find out the client's needs, both specific and wider, and then undertakes the role in a proportional, sensitive and methodical manner - a value added approach!"
Anu Vedi, Chief Executive, Genesis Housing Group.

"Campbell Tickell carried out a series of major health checks across our organisation and dealt with each rapidly, professionally, and to time scale, and delivered a series of high quality reports. We were of course delighted that the reports gave us largely a clean bill of health, but equally Campbell Tickell identified a number of potential system improvements across the organisation which were critical in helping us move forward."
Peter Walters, Group Chief Executive, First Wessex Housing Group.

"The salary review report was very well received by the Board - they thought it a significant improvement on the previous review carried out by another organisation. Sue Goodrich was very efficient and responsive. A job well done."
Andy Watson, Chief Executive, WECH.

"Greg has worked for us on a couple of important projects, both delivered on time and within budget. He is easy to work with and gets to the heart of the matter very quickly. He listens carefully and follows the brief meticulously. I would use him again and again."
Clare Winstanley, Chief Executive, Innisfree Housing Association.

"Over the last three years, CT have provided a range of HR related services for the Network Housing Group, including:

• an independent review of our senior staff structure
• recruitment of new management team posts following the review
• independent advice on executive remuneration
• provision of interim executives

In relation to recruitment, our experience of CT's performance has been entirely positive. The recruitment to two new executive posts was very professionally handled, with a very successful outcome in terms of the quality of the candidates appointed. CT provided the whole range of support services, from design of advert/recruitment pack, through sifting interviews, testing and support at final interview. Our positive experience in that recruitment round has led us to select CT to provide professional support in the current recruitment of the Group Chief Executive (I retire early next year).

In addition to the quality of their work, our experience of CT's cost base is that it is very competitive and provides good value for money. As a relatively small consultancy, we value CT's commitment that one of their principals, either Greg Campbell or James Tickell, is actively engaged in all their commissions. CT has very detailed knowledge and experience of the social housing sector, which provides added value.

I should add also that we were pleased that Clare Roberts has joined CT recently to extend their HR capacity further. The Group has worked with Clare on a number of occasions over the last decade on executive recruitment, and we have a high regard for her talents.

In summary, I have no hesitation in recommending CT to any similar organisations for independent support on recruitment and related HR activities."
Nick Wood, Group Chief Executive, Network Housing Group.

"The work that Niku and the team carried out for Windsor Housing and Radian Group during the week of the mock short notice inspection and before coming on site, gave us a much better understanding of both strategic issues facing the Group as well as more localised improvements required in delivering housing services for Windsor Housing residents.

The approach taken by the team was exactly right for where we were at Windsor at that time; I was particularly impressed with how quickly the team built up a clear understanding of the business and some of the historic challenges the organisation had faced. The brief that I gave was followed extremely well and staff at all levels fed back to me that they felt that the mock inspection was a very worthwhile exercise, especially as many of the more junior staff had not been through an inspection before.

It is very difficult to get the balance right between inspection and providing a critical friend service and I think the team got this right. It was very clear that Niku, Zaidee, Annie and Sandra work extremely well as a team and I was keen to avoid the sense of consultants arriving to inspect services ‘cold', without fully understanding how the Group operates. This aim was achieved.""
Paul Yates, Executive Director, Windsor Housing.

Edward Miliband: "I sympathise with the sentiments behind the clause. The Trustee Act 2000 covers unincorporated charities, and the Companies Act 1985 and the Company Law Reform Bill currently being debated elsewhere in the House cover incorporated charities, giving them very similar responsibilities. It is important to clarify the duties of trustees, so it is worth saying that the Charity Commission has produced a popular and well respected booklet called The Essential Trustee: What you need to know, which covers the responsibilities and duties of trustees. The hon. Gentleman raises an important issue and the main things to say is that it is set out clearly in documents available to trustees. I hope that he will withdraw the new clause."
Peter Bottomley: "May I follow the Minister by saying that his words about the booklet The Essential Trustee will be warmly endorsed across the House? The Charity Commission, which produced it, has done a service to trustees, and those who have presented it have put it in an accessible form. They give a brief introduction and then expand on what people need to know. It is one of the examples of the Charity Commission doing its job well and allowing trustees to do theirs better.
Mr. Turner: "I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion."

House of Commons Standing Committee considering the Charities Bill, 13 July 2006.
The Essential Trustee was written for the Charity Commission by Campbell Tickell.