Chris Nichols, Chief Executive, Enforcement Conduct Board
It’s an honour and a privilege to join the Enforcement Conduct Board as its first Chief Executive at an
exciting time in the development of the organisation. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce
myself, to set out the priority areas I am working on and to encourage stakeholders to feed into our
current consultation.
Since my first day on 6 March, I’ve been grateful for a wide range of invitations to meet or visit those
involved in the sector – from the enforcement industry, the debt advice sector, creditors and other
organisations interested in our work. This is invaluable to me, as I seek to deepen my understanding
of the sector, alongside the work I’m doing to get the organisation fully up and running.
Prior to officially taking up my post, I had already made a head-start on meeting key stakeholders
from both the enforcement industry and debt advice sector. In the past few weeks, I’ve been busy
continuing introductory meetings including with CIVEA, the High Court Enforcement Officers
Association, the Taking Control partners group, the Ministry of Justice and the Institute of Revenues
Rating and Valuation.
I’m also pleased to say that our call for more engagement from utility companies as to their use of
enforcement companies has started to gain traction. We’ve had some positive meetings about
supporting fair enforcement by requiring those that they contract with to be accredited by the ECB,
once we have a scheme up and running. In this regard, we are pleased to see Dŵr Cymru (Welsh
Water) taking the lead and updating their enforcement guidance as follows:
“It is important that the organisations that we work with uphold our values of fairness and
trust, and therefore, we will be requiring all enforcement agencies that work on our behalf
to be accredited by the Enforcement Conduct Board.”
We welcome this clear commitment from Dŵr Cymru and the example it sets for other utility
companies to follow.
Having spent over a decade working in regulation in the legal sector, I’m keen to bring my
experience to this new area of oversight. From my previous roles at the Bar Standards Board and the
Legal Services Board, I understand the importance of listening and learning from all stakeholders.
Of particular interest to me will be the time I’m planning on spending out with enforcement agents,
so I can see first-hand the vital, important and difficult work they do, while also meeting members of
the public they contact. I am grateful to Rundles for showing our chair, Catherine Brown, and I
around their offices in Market Harborough and talking us through their approach, and to Dukes for
scheduling a day for me with one of their enforcement agents. This will be complemented by
upcoming visits to contact centres of debt advice charities. It is this critical insight from the frontline
that will inform the steps we take to ensure fair treatment for people subject to enforcement action.
As we’ve stated from the outset of the ECB, we are committed to transparency. That’s why each
month, the report that I give to our board will also be published on our website, so everyone can see
what work is going on. My first ever report, to the March Board, is now available to download from
our website.
In a similar vein, in our last update, Catherine said that we would be publishing our draft Business
Plan for consultation. I’m pleased to say that this has now happened. I would encourage everyone
interested in our work to read the Business Plan and respond to our consultation by 13 April. We
really want to know what you think.
As we consult on our Business Plan, we are also in the process of starting to build our team, as there
is a lot to do. Please keep your eyes open for opportunities and share with anyone who you think
would be a good fit.
While the ECB has only had a CEO for a few weeks, it is clear that a lot has been achieved over the
last year to lay the foundations for the ECB’s future success. I’m looking forward to listening,
learning and working collaboratively with everyone in the year ahead and beyond, to ensure that we
build the ECB into an impactful, effective and well-run organisation that delivers on its mission of
fairness for all those experiencing enforcement action.