Richard Thomas is the Chief Officer of Care & Repair Cardiff and the Vale. He has worked in the third sector in Wales for over 26 years and has a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience of governance, finance, strategy, compliance and business development. Richard started work for Cardiff Community Housing Association in 1995 and during his career there, covered a wide range of housing management functions. In 2006, Richard was appointed the manager of the Cardiff Care & Repair Agency and has been instrumental in developing and growing the business since that date.

In 2010, he took on board the additional responsibility of managing the Vale of Glamorgan Care & Repair Agency, and in 2015, led the merger of the two Agencies to establish Care & Repair Cardiff and the Vale as an independent charity. Since the formation of the charity, Richard has helped grow its income from £1 million in 2015/16 to £3 million in 2019/20 and the organisation now employs 25 staff. This growth has been achieved by successfully accessing national and local grant funding as well as generating income through tendering for the delivery of local authority works.

In 2017, Richard led on setting up a social business trading arm to extend the range and volume of practical building works the charity undertakes as well as to diversify its income stream. The social business that was established now employs 11 staff and is on track to generate a surplus during 2020/21. Richard has a BA (Hons), a MSC (Econ), a Postgraduate Diploma in Housing and a Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management & Leadership. He is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Housing and a Chartered Manager of the Chartered Management Institute.