After 18 years, Hudson stalwart Richard Crisp hangs up his hard hat

Richard Crisp, the Hudson stalwart who has served as sales director, regional account manager and freelance auditor, has stepped down after a long association with our business to help his son to scale up his Norfolk Rum spirit company.

Richard joined us two decades ago to help his friend and our founder Dave Jackson meet growing demand for our unique audit, contract and payroll services. The taxman had beefed up CIS compliance reviews and was turning the screw on self-employment in construction. While HMRC travelled the country warning about the pitfalls of using self-employed labour, Richard ran up the mileage meeting people to explain how Hudson offered a safe solution.

Dave brought him in because Richard knew the industry inside out from his experience working at innovative self-build company Potton and running his own joinery contracting business.

As regional account manager, Richard became a familiar face and trusted advisor to clients in North London and East Anglia and audited clients of our Guernsey business. He served as a company director until 2018 and after semi retiring, he continued to consult for Hudson, working part time as a freelance auditor while also publishing a book, building a house and helping his son set up and run an artisan rum business.

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, said: “Richard is finally hanging up his boots with Hudson and is now devoting his energies to helping his son to run Norfolk Rum, a spirit company which is starting to grow with a loyal following of regular customers. We wish Richard and family all the best for the future.

“The rum is really worth a try - I prefer their straight stuff but Richard and his son Ben have also come up with a flavoured range that are perfect for cocktails and they share their recipes. You might bump into Richard at one of the Pub in the Park festivals or at a farmers market, but if not here is his website: www.norfolkspiritco.co.uk.

“Losing Richard has given us an excuse to strengthen our team with a new full-time account manager. Some of our clients will have already met Lee Monk, our new regional account manager for North London and East Anglia. Lee has a strong industry background and is looking forward to meeting all our clients across his region throughout the next year.”

Pictured: Richard & Caroline Crisp

For old times sake, Richard is offering Hudson enews readers a 10% discount at Norfolk Rum by entering the code HUDSON10 at checkout for online orders.