It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Chris. Like others, I had not had an opportunity to spend much time with Chris at work, mainly meeting him in Zoom meetings and, in recent weeks, on occasion in the office.

I loved working with Chris; he was straight to the point and was not affected by the passing whims of clients or staff. He kept his eye on the ball and was not affected by the latest trends. He had no room for pretence, calling himself “the clerk” and constantly playing down his role in managing staff, meetings, property and finances.

The backing he gave to his staff was greatly valued. He would not allow a client to give his team a hard time or disrespect them.

All the staff I know greatly liked Chris, despite his delight at paying the “pantomime baddie” in meetings, where he would pretend to be uncaring and insensitive to the various requests and suggestions. In truth, it was because he did care for people and had their best interests at heart that sometimes he would decline support to people who were clearly making poor choices in their lives. He wanted to help people and knew that to do so, sometimes one has to say “No”.

I had hoped to share a meal or a drink with Chris in time and am sad not to have had the opportunity to do so. However, I shall always think of him with fondness and with good memories of the little time I spent with him.