But in February this year, Chris Pratt left his job as director of children's services at Trafford and took the helm at the troubled authority.
"There are two main reasons I took the job," he explains. "One is the challenge. I was in Trafford for 12 years and I learned a lot. I was just excited about putting that learning into practice where major improvements were needed.
"The second reason is that I was born in Doncaster, so that was a big attraction for me, to some extent it is about coming back to my roots."
Pratt admits that he has a mountain to climb, since an Audit Commission report in April recommended that the government take over the running of the council.
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