Nick Stacey stood out from the first intake of directors of social services like a flamingo among pigeons. His colourful personality and similarly colourful expression of uniquely personal views fluttered the nerves of more orthodox local government functionaries. Beneath the show, however, was a hard-headed leader and a bedrock of Christian values.
Nick also possessed the gift of recognising and making use of talent in others. He assembled a powerful team in Kent that was not only creative but also had the managerial and administrative ability to put new thinking into practice. He maintained to the end that social services for needy and dispossessed people required the highest calibre of leadership.
