A new direction

On Friday, for the first time in over six years, I will be walking through the doors of an organisation as an employee. At the end of this week, I become Richmond Housing Partnership’s Head of Technology and Transformation.

Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in how homes are provided in the UK. Spending time working at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and conversations with people at Geovation, and in particular with Phil Murphy for the podcast earlier this year have led me to the conclusion that we need to think quite differently about where people live in the UK. In my conversations with RHP in the past few months, they feel like an organisation that is well-positioned to be at the forefront of that innovation.

In the past six years, I’ve learned so much about both managing technology in many different circumstances, and also about establishing and running a business. I’ve met brilliant people along the way, and I hope I’ve been able to help as much as the help I have received. It’s been a real privilege to work with some fantastic people in dozens of different and fascinating organisations.

But working Free Range is a lonely world, and it’s time to work within a team again. To apply what I have learned in helping one organisation rather than many. Having said that, if you know me, you’ll know there’s no chance that I’ll be locking myself away – working collaboratively across organisations is my MO.

What happens to Stamp? Well, in the short term, there are commitments that I have with some clients that will be met through a few days here and there. And I’m planning a crowdsourcing exercise to get the Priorities cards to a bigger audience.

But Stamp, first and foremost, is my career aspiration rather than a company. To find ways to combine technology, communication and people to achieve things that are worthy enough to be celebrated. RHP feels like it’s a “stampable” place.

WB-40 will continue for as long as Chris and I enjoy doing it. And working out loud through blogging will probably step up again as I reckon there’s going to be plenty to share.

I’m really excited about where this new direction takes us. And if you have ideas or views to share about this, please get in touch!