Christopher Smith
Chris Smith serves on the Association's board as a service provider member for England and holds the post of Treasurer.
Chris is currently employed as Head of Invicta Services at Invicta Telecare Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tonbridge and Malling Housing Association.
He has worked in Housing Management for nearly 20 years, starting his career as a Trainee for Stevenage Development Corporation in 1974. He then moved on to Stevenage Borough Council and subsequently Welwyn Hatfield District Council before joining Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council in 1984 and transferring to Tonbridge and Malling Housing Association in 1991.
In 1995 he was transferred from his post as Regional Director to the position of Business Development Manager when the Business Development Section was created to take over responsibility for the Association's Community Alarms Service, to establish initiatives to work with other organisations and manage special projects. Over the years he has gained considerable working experience in Homelessness, ISO 9002, NVQ Assessment and Development. He is a qualified NVQ Assessor, ISO 9002 Auditor and a Fellow of the Institute of Housing.
His current responsibilities include managing a growing contact centre with over 30,000 connections and 34 staff. He has undertaken a complete review of the service, introduced ISO 9002 procedures for all working practices and has taken the service through a Code of Practice audit. He is committed to customer service and has prepared and submitted a number of successful Charter Mark applications for the Association and the service.
He first became involved with ASAP in 1996 when he joined the Technical Group. He subsequently chaired the Voice Recording Working Party and drafted the report with Ray Walker. In 1997 he became Treasurer, a role that he has really enjoyed and has developed by improving financial controls and working to increase openness and awareness and understanding of the long-term needs of the organisation.
Away from work he enjoys walking, travelling, cooking, surfing the Internet and watching Watford FC.