Portman Group hires first Deputy Chair, appoints three new members

The Portman Group Code of Practice – Independent Complaints Panel has strengthened the team with its first Deputy Chair and three new Panel members. They will be pivotal in providing support for its vital work in protecting consumers from irresponsible alcohol marketing.

As part of a broader governance review, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the new Deputy Chair role was introduced to enhance the good governance, resilience and professional working practices of the Panel, ensuring that the Panel can continue its important work should the Chair be unavailable for any reason.

Rachel Childs, an existing member of the panel since 2016, will take on the Deputy Chair position and bring a wealth of experience to the role. Her term as Deputy Chair is for three years. Rachel is a former headteacher who has held leadership positions in both the primary and secondary sectors. She works for a number of regulators across a variety of industries including education, healthcare, transport and the press. She served on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Council between 2011 and 2019, acting as Senior Independent Director from 2016 and she currently sits on the Advertising Advisory Committee.

Three new members also join the Panel – Amanda Orchard, Shireen Peermohamed, and Claud Williams.

Amanda is a crime and family magistrate, siting on disciplinary panels at a national level for various organisations including The Football Association. She currently holds a range of roles within the regulation, healthcare, local government and national sport sectors. A former senior marketing and communications manager, she is the Independent Person for several authorities including the City of London Corporation where she is consulted on member complaints as well as sitting on various renumeration, appeals and grant funding panels.

Shireen is a solicitor specialising in intellectual property law. In that role she has built her extensive experience of how consumers view and react to products marketed and sold to them. She served on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Council between 2014 – 2020 and she is currently a member of the Video Standards Council (VSC) Appeals Panel. Shireen is a former Trustee of The Ministry of Stories children’s charity, and a CEDR trained and accredited mediator.

Claud is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker and coach. He has 13 years of executive and governance experience, including serving as a board member for Camden and Islington NHS Trust. Additionally, he has been an advisor to both Birkbeck and Loughborough Universities consulting for businesses, particularly within the tech start-up industry. Claud champions several causes, including mental health, diversity, and neurodiversity. He currently serves as an ambassador for the British Dyslexia Association.

“The appointment of a Deputy Chair as well as three new Panel members is greatly welcomed, and will help ensure consistency of experience and decision-making is always maintained," said the Chair, Nicola Williams. "It will further enhance the Panel’s duty to provide a complaints framework where irresponsible alcohol marketing is addressed as quickly and robustly as possible. I very much look forward to welcoming our new Panellists and thank Rachel for her continued and expanded commitment.”