Chris Smith

Founder and Managing Director, Centre for the New Midlands

Chris is the Founder and Managing Director of the Centre for the New Midlands, launching the organisation in January 2020.  Prior to establishing the only independent, non-partisan think tank solely focussed on the West Midlands region, Chris worked for 15 years in the UK Higher Education sector, with extensive experience in student recruitment, stakeholder engagement; business development and major gift fundraising.

Chris has previously worked for the Saga Group plc and the Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Chris is a former Students’ Union President and has also been a Trustee of a Students’ Union.

Chris has served as a member of the NSPCC Business Board in Coventry and Warwickshire and is currently an Acorns Children’s Hospice Business Ambassador. He is an avid Tottenham Hotspur supporter and a ‘Man of Kent’ by birth but an ‘adopted’ Coventrian having lived in the city since 2003.