Nick Atkin
Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing
1 What do you do for fun?
Everything in Yorkshire is fun! To add to this fun foundation….I love running and challenge myself to run 1,000 miles each year. This includes quite a few half marathons as well as regular training runs. It’s one of the few times when you’re alone with your thoughts without any interruptions – sheer bliss!
2 You have the power to change one thing about the social housing sector: what would it be?
Its perception by the wider world. Once we manage to encourage people into working in the sector they generally love it and stay. But no one (yet!!) grows up saying they want to work in housing.
3 What advice would you give to someone starting out in housing?
Not sure I’m the best person to offer advice but I’d say create your own brand, using social media and internal opportunities as they come up. Try a few things – there’s loads you can do in housing so give it a go! The only thing that holds you back is your own self-doubt, so try to block out those negative voices that lead to so many of us experiencing imposter syndrome.
4 Who’s your favourite author, and why?
Antony Beevor. Blimey he writes a hard-hitting book on the grim realities of war. Stalingrad is one of those reads where some of the words stay with you forever. It makes you feel so lucky to have lived during a time when very few of us have been dragged into conflict.
5 Strangest thing you’ve ever experienced?
What a question!! Other than once trying to use an Android phone (never again!), I was lucky enough to see the solar eclipse in Cornwall in 1999. It was really eerie when the sky went dark in the middle of the day.
6 What are your three favourite albums?
Oh dear…the music question that I was dreading…I don’t usually have the patience to listen to a full album but here goes (in no particular order)…
American Idiot – Green Day
Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
Disco – Pet Shop Boys
And then there’s one of my fave running tunes: Insomnia (Monster Mix) – Faithless
7 Sat snugly at home or travelling around the world?
Errr…is this even a choice?! The world is such an amazing place and there’s not enough time in a lifetime to see and experience it all. But I’ll certainly die trying!
8 A world without music or a world without literature?
Who could possibly live without music! It features in every single part of my life – despite my favourite three albums.
9 If you had to work in housing in another country, which would it be, and why?
Australia! Love the place, the people and the weather! There’s a relaxed culture like nowhere else I’ve visited. Their housing model is also following a similar path to here in the UK so I’d be able to introduce what’s worked well but also not repeat the mistakes of the past.
10 Favourite food?
I love food so this is a hard one…but probably a really tangy lamb madras or aloo gosht, pilau rice and keema naan. Pure heaven!
11 Pessimistic, optimistic or unsure about the future?
Always optimistic. Is there any other way to be? If you can’t look ahead and see the opportunities then that’s a sure fire recipe to a self-perpetuating downward spiral.
12 You can resurrect anyone from history and talk to them for an hour: who, and why?
Shakespeare. Not because I like his stuff but to explain to me what he’s saying – and I’d then spend the hour trying to convince him to translate it into a language I can actually understand! Otherwise it’s just like listening to Alistair McIntosh on First Things First!
13 Favourite film?
Platoon. Gets me every time. Some cracking tunes in there too, especially Adagio for Strings which just makes my spine tingle every time.
14 If you didn’t work in housing, what would you do?
I love driving so I’d probably be delivering parcels or working for the other love of my life, Apple.
15 What makes for a good life?
Balance! A partner who knows you better than you know yourself and who keeps you grounded!
