Chris started in advertising in 1960 as a messenger boy and worked in several agencies before starting one of the world's first media agencies, CIA, in1976.  CIA was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and by 2000, the holding company Tempus Group, was a marketing and media communications group, with 67 offices across 29 countries.  That year he was voted Ernst & Young 'Entrepreneur of the Year' in the National Business to Business Category. In 2001, after a protracted takeover battle, Tempus was acquired by WPP for Ј432m, an increase in shareholder value of over 2,100% in 12 years.

In 2002 Chris started a small private equity business, Genesis, with his son Jon.  In 2003 he bought three businesses in order to launch Ingram, a strategic consultancy in brand building and communications for senior management.  Ingram now has offices in New York and Hong Kong.
Chris is on the board of London Business School's Foundation for Entrepreneurial Management and is chairman of the Centre for Creative Business, a joint venture between LBS and the University of the Arts, London to support, educate and inspire creative business people in order to help them grow their businesses.

Chris is owner of Woking Football Club, a Vice President of Shelter and is a keen collector of British Modern Art and Sculpture.