James Tickell
James is a founding partner of Campbell Tickell, set up in 2004. He has carried out a wide range of assignments throughout the UK and Ireland, primarily for not-for-profit organisations and government agencies.
His assignments have focused on governance, mergers, performance improvement, strategy and most recently organisational culture. Some more high profile work has involved helping clients through difficult or unexpected events. Assignments include:
- Numerous governance reviews, board appraisal exercises, awaydays, strategic planning exercises and scenario planning
- Writing the Charity Commission’s original flagship guidance for Trustees and other key guidance booklets for charities
- Producing various iterations of the National Housing Federation’s Code of Governance, and also the original NCVO Code of Governance for the voluntary sector
- Undertaking two statutory inquiries on behalf of government regulators
- Conducting confidential inquiries into a range of problems and incidents on behalf of various clients, including alleged corruption, fraud, bullying, and other serious incidents
- Assisting and advising on issues connected with the formation of group structures, mergers and partnerships
- Serving as Interim Chief Executive of major care and housing organisation during a period of difficulty, and
- Recruitment of Chairs, Chief Executives and other senior positions
Previously, James has worked as a Director at the Refugee Council, and then at the Housing Corporation, where he was Registrar – a senior post responsible for the registration and regulation of housing associations. Before moving to set up Campbell Tickell with Greg Campbell, he was Deputy Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation, a national campaigns and trade body. He was responsible at various times for a wide range of activities, including:
- The Federation’s Governance Code and work with Board members
- Communications, corporate identity and branding
- Company secretarial functions
- A major overhaul and expansion of the Federation’s regional network, and
- Publications and journals
James trained as an architect. He has served as a Board member of various charities and other organisations, including as a statutory appointee to the Board of an organisation in special measures. He was a trustee of Public Concern at Work, the whistleblowing charity, and also a non-executive Director of McCann Homes Ltd., a developer and housebuilder. He has published books on the Maya and Inca civilisations, as well as on housing-related subjects.