board and exec team

With an experienced leadership team who have complementary skills and are committed to high standards of corporate governance and excellence, the company is set for continued growth.

Skills and responsibilities

The Board of Directors are all:
  • Entrepreneurial and able to drive the business forward while keeping it under control
  • Knowledgeable about the workings of the company to be answerable for its actions
  • Able to stand back from the day-to-day management to have an objective view
  • Sensitive to the pressures of short-term issues and yet aware of longer-term trends
  • Knowledgeable about potential or actual wider competitive influences
  • Focused on the needs of its business while acting responsibly
The Board meets several times a year to:
  • Establish vision, mission and values
  • Set strategy and company structure
  • Delegate objectives and tasks to management
  • Exercise accountability and responsibility to shareholders and stakeholders

board and exec members

James Batchelor

CEO & Founder

James Batchelor is Chief Executive and founder. He created Housing Proactive to help housing providers improve service efficiency and contact for residents. He is an experienced inventor, entrepreneur, investor and systems architect with successful ventures in internet service provision, software development, online retail, telecommunications and recruitment. James is also an expert on issues surrounding the ageing population, regularly invited to speak about innovation and counsels senior decision makers about future technologies.

Neil Jurd

Director & Leadership Coach

Neil Jurd provides leadership and logistical insight in to the company. Neil served as an Officer in the British Army, is a former Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Instructor, Cranfield MA Graduate, student at Manchester Business School and Graduate of Advanced Command and Staff College. Neil was for several years Deputy President of the Army Officer Selection Board and has also been Head of Logistics at British Sugar. Neil is also Course Director for the Leadership Trust, and a regular speaker at Directors’ Forums, he also founded a youth development charity.

Martin Cutbill

Chief Business Development Officer

Martin Cutbill is the Chief Business Development Officer, responsible for both sales and marketing and our expansion into new markets. Martin is an experienced company director, who previously worked on several boards including as Chief Executive for Hitachi Capital Finance and Insurance Services. He has also held senior roles at Price Waterhouse, Nationwide Building Society, Bank of Scotland, and also as Head of Commercial Services at the Federation Of Small Businesses.

additional executives

Adrian Cross

Chief Operations Officer

Adrian Cross leads our operational teams to ensure we are delivering the best possible service to our clients and are continually developing our people. He brings to the company an impressive track record of enabling business and people growth having worked for over 17 years in senior leadership roles within the outsourced staffing sector. His many achievements include leading the creation, development and growth of industry leading contact centres in the UK and overseas. Adrian holds a BSc (Hons) from Lancaster University and has attended international leadership programmes at Insead in Fountainbleu and IMD at Lausanne.

Phil Powell

Chief Technology Officer

Phil Powell is an experienced systems architect, multi-disciplined developer and interface designer. He speaks at public events about accessibility and digital working, and is a member of the RSA fellowship. Phil joined the company after over fifteen years working for high profile clients like the BBC, Sony, Audi and Levi’s. For his creative work Phil has been nominated for a BAFTA and was awarded a prestigious Cannes Lion for his work for the musicians U2. 

sign up for updates

News from Housing Proactive plus articles and insights on how to enhance outcomes for people with higher needs in the housing, health and social care sectors.

Submitting your details tells us you are ok with us contacting you and that you also agree to our privacy policy. You can opt out of communication from us at anytime by emailing contact@housingproactive.com.