24th August 1951 – 30th August 2026
This tribute to Colin Sherriff was delivered at his funeral service by celebrant David Gordon-Shute and is reproduced on our website with the consent of Colin’s wife, Ingrid Reynolds, with our thanks to both and to all members of Colin’s family.
Colin Sherriff worked with Campbell Tickell as an Associate Consultant and on interim assignments over the years.
For any messages to Colin’s family, please feel free to write to: James.Tickell@campbelltickell.com
Colin Sherriff
Tribute to Colin Sherriff
Colin was born in Partick in Glasgow, where his father Iain, who had served with the Royal Marines during the Second World War and was a clerk for the Coop. His mother May was a draughtswoman in the North British Locomotive Works, working on drawings for steam locomotives which were exported across the world.
The family later moved to Blantyre where his dad Iain took a job with the Coal Board. There, when Colin was 11, his younger brother Gavin was born in the same week the local maternity hospital was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
Next the family moved to Dunfermline where Iain was the transport manager for the local council. Colin attended Dunfermline High School and was an enthusiatic member of the Boys Brigade.
Away from school one of Colin’s interests was stamp collecting. In January 1965, he bought a stamp commemorating the opening of the Forth Road Bridge –a short distance away from the family home. Astutely Colin sent an envelope to himself using the stamp even though it clearly had a printing error. The rarity value this gave the stamp led to it being sold at a London auction for £380. About £9,500 in today’s money. Some of this money he used a few years later to buy his first car, a Mini. The story was widely reported, leading to an appearance on Blue Peter!
The following year, 1966, the family moved south to Dartford when Iain was offered a job on a road transport magazine. Due to some confusion over their home address Colin was accepted by a grammar school in the London Borough of Bexley, rather than one in the Borough of Dartford, Kent. The mistake was discovered but it was felt it would be too disruptive to move him to Dartford.
He continued his membership of the Boys’ Brigade with lengthy weekly bus journeys to Bexleyheath. Colin excelled at Maths and Physics, and as a youngster had an amazing ability for mental maths. His family were extremely proud when he got a place at Oxford.
Colin started working in housing in London in the mid-to-late 1970s. His first role was with the GLC, before he moved to Haringey Council’s homelessness team. Later, he became a Housing Officer at Circle 33 Housing Association. Colin met Ingrid in 1979 at Circle 33, where they both worked. They first bonded over the purchase of photocopiers for the organisation.
Within a short time, they were living together in a shared house. In 1981 they had just enough money to buy a small house in Tottenham with a friend. He became a Haringey councillor in 1978 and was elected twice for the South Hornsey ward, serving eight years in total. He later became Chair of Housing and was very active in that role. Ingrid used to joke that what kept their relationship fresh was the fact that they only saw each other about two days a week.
At Circle 33, Colin became a Special Projects Officer, specialising in supported housing — a role he found deeply satisfying. It was around that time that he first met some of his long-standing friends at Campbell Tickell. In 1986, he came off the Council. He had considered trying to become an MP but decided against it, much to Ingrid’s relief. Instead, he focused on developing his career in housing.
On 23 May 1986, Ingrid and Colin got married, and in December 1987 their daughter Anna was born. From then on, life became much more centred around family. In 1991 Colin got a job in Twickenham, and the family moved to Ealing, to the house which is still the family home. Ingrid continued commuting around the North Circular to her job in Walthamstow for a further nine months, also taking Anna to her childminder in Tottenham, until she moved to a more local job.
Both Colin and Ingrid’s work flourished, but the second child did not materialise until they had given up hoping and bought Anna two cats instead. Alex was born on 12 May 1994, and by then the family were firmly rooted in Ealing. Over the years Colin continued to take on senior roles in housing, becoming Chief Executive of Windsor and District Housing Association in 1995, later renamed Parkside. His kindness and support for colleagues is remembered by all those who worked with him.
Parkside had been created from a council housing stock transfer, and Colin had many great years there building the business, transforming the culture, regenerating the housing stock and building many more homes for people. One of his proudest achievements was bringing a care business into the organisation, while retaining his long-standing interest in supported housing.
During the early 2000s, Colin developed a love of sailing. At the end of 2006 he left Parkside as it merged with two other housing associations, and signed up to sail around the world with the Clipper yacht race on the boat Glasgow – Scotland with Style, sponsored by Glasgow City Council. This became a year-long adventure around the world.
On his return, Colin wanted to retain control and freedom rather than take another permanent position. He set up his own company, Broadreach Strategies, and for the rest of his career took on interim Chief Executive and other roles in housing, some of them indeed through Campbell Tickell.
He also gained a coaching qualification and worked as an Executive Coach in the housing sector. He held a number of Non-Executive Board positions, including Chair of Origin Housing and Chair of various start-up housing businesses, latterly Grainger Trust. He also greatly enjoyed mentoring a Syrian student and a number of homeless people, helping them prepare for employment. After retirement, Colin volunteered with the Ealing Foodbank.
As Colin and Ingrid began winding down their work commitments, they spent as much time as possible travelling and visiting far-flung destinations from their bucket list. They sailed all over Europe and beyond, and travelled extensively in their motorhome. In 2021 they bought a second home in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, a place that had been a family destination since they first met.
In between all of this, they enjoyed a full and very loving family life. Colin was delighted to welcome Nick Medhurst and, later, Hannah Dobb into the family, followed by his grandchildren, Magnus the Magnificent and Arthur. Colin was also a loving son-in-law to Ingrid’s mother, Rosemarie, who died in 2023.
After an exceptionally busy and fulfilling 2025, Colin was diagnosed with prostate cancer late that year. He undertook treatment and finished radiotherapy in June 2026, with an all-clear. It was a tragedy that, shortly afterwards, he was diagnosed with a separate and more aggressive throat cancer, which had spread. His family will take a long time to come to terms with the fact that his illness developed so rapidly that he did not live to get through the first round of treatment. We can take comfort from the fact that he died peacefully, and that his family were with him throughout this time.
Colin was just 75 when he died, having celebrated 40 years of marriage with Ingrid. He died far too young, but retained his health and fitness until almost the end. He had a fantastic and rewarding life, and was always much loved.
Epitaph
An honest man here lies at rest,
As e’er God with His image blest:
The friend of man, the friend of truth;
The friend of age, and guide of youth:
Few hearts like his, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d:
If there’s another world, he lives in bliss;
If there is none, he made the best of this.
