Richard is the Arts Council’s National Director, Strategic Partnerships leading on place, communities, local government and the creative economy.

Most recently Richard has been working in the Arts Council’s South East region, where as Director, External Relations & Development he has led a number of key projects including coastal cultural regeneration programmes, arts broadcast projects with the BBC, Channel 4 and FIVE, and the region’s strategy for children, young people and the arts. In 2008, Richard was seconded to the Commission for Architecture & the Built Environment to set up the DCMS funded Sea Change programme.

Prior to his role at the Arts Council, Richard held senior posts in a range of arts organisations and funding agencies including Southern Arts, Cleveland Arts, Birmingham City Council, and a number of arts centres and festivals throughout England. He managed the programme for Birmingham’s Year as UK City of Music in 1992 and has helped create a number of new organisations and initiatives, including Sound It Out Community Music in Birmingham and various artists in schools programmes.