He says it's something he fell into rather than following a grand plan. "I never had a big career plan and I'm sceptical about telling young people you have to have a career plan," he says. "Mine just evolved and now I've worked across the private, public and voluntary sectors."
After spending six years at the top at Centrepoint, next week Lawton will collect the OBE he was awarded in the summer. He says this was a moment of great pride, although he admits it means even more because his children approve.
"I was chuffed that my children are proud about it," he says. "My mother was in public service and my father was too. They both died when I was young and even though I'm 55 now, I still think they'd have liked it."
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