Lord Whitty has been a member of: House of Lords since 1996, Privy Council since 2005, House of Lord EU Select Committee since 2015 and Chair of HoL EU Sub Committee for Internal Market since 2015. Other current positions he holds include: Vice President: Local Government Association since 2010, Vice President of Chartered Trading Standards Institute, since 2008, President of Environmental Protection UK (NGO), Since 2015 and Board Member: Smith Institute (Think Tank) Since 2013.
Among his previous positions are: FCO/DfID Lords Spokesperson on Europe and DfID between 1997 to 1998, DETR, Minister for Roads, Waterways, Energy Efficiency (1998 to 2001) and Defra: Minister for Food, Farming and Energy Efficiency (2001 to 2005).
He has a BA Hons Economics from St Johns College Cambridge.
The Hon Alexander Downer AC was appointed Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in March 2014.
Mr Downer has had a long and distinguished political career in Australia, and was until recently the United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus.
He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1976 and served at the Australian Embassy in Belgium before moving into politics. Elected to the Federal Parliament in 1984 (Liberal member for Mayo in South Australia), he held this seat until his retirement from Parliament in July 2008. He served as Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, from 1996 to 2007, making him Australia’s longest-serving Foreign Minister.
Mr Downer was a Director, Bespoke Approach consultancy and visiting professor, School of History/Politics, University of Adelaide; held a professorship at Carnegie Mellon University and sits on a number of boards.
Mr Downer was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013 and was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.
Mr Downer holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Politics and Economics from Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom and a Doctorate of Civil Laws (honoris causa).
Mrs Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis is Director in the Market Access Division at the WTO. She has worked almost thirty years at the GATT/WTO in different capacities. She started her career in the GATT in the Development Division where she dealt with issues such as tropical products and natural-resource based products. As a member of the Market Access Division she dealt with inter alia Tariffs, Quantitative Restrictions, the Customs Valuation Agreement and the Pre-shipment Inspection Agreement. Since 2001 she has been Secretary to the DDA Negotiating Group on Market Access. In February 2015, she became Director of the Market Access Division. She has a degree in Business from the University of Geneva and a Master of Studies degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, UK.
L Alan Winters CB is Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex and Director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory. He is a CEPR Research Fellow and has served as Co-Director of the Centre's International Trade Programme. He has been Chief Economist at the UK Department for International Development (2008-11), Director of the Development Research Group (2004-7), Division Chief and Research Manager (1994-9), and Economist at the World Bank (1983-5). He is editor of The World Trade Review, Chairman of the Board of the Global Development Network, CEO of the Migrating out of Poverty Research Programme Consortium and a member of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). He has also advised, inter alia, the OECD, DfID, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Commission, the European Parliament, UNCTAD, the WTO, and the Inter-American Development Bank. He is a leading specialist on the empirical and policy analysis of international trade, especially in developing countries, and has recently also worked on migration, the brain drain and economic growth. He has published over 240 articles and chapters, and thirty books in areas such as regional trading arrangements, non-tariff barriers, European integration, transition economies’ trade, international labour migration, agricultural protection, trade and poverty, and the world trading system. He has also published on small economies, global warming, pricing behaviour and econometrics.
Dr Lorand Bartels is Reader in International Law in the Faculty of Law and a Fellow of Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge, where he teaches international law, WTO law and EU law. Dr Bartels is a member of the ILA's study group on free trade agreements and helped to establish the Society of International Economic Law. He is a general editor of the Cambridge International Trade and Economic Law Series (CUP), an editor of the Journal of World Trade and an editorial board member of several journals, including the Journal of International Economic Law, the Journal of International Dispute Settlement and Legal Issues of Economic Integration. He is Senior Counsel at Linklaters where he advises on trade law, particularly in the context of Brexit.
Dr Porter is the CEO of BEAMA, the Trade body for the UK electrical manufacturing industry; he has been in this post for 8 years. He is the Chairman of the implementation board of the Each Home Counts review of residential energy efficiency. He has several accompanying roles: Chairman of the ORGALIME board, the Brussels-based industry body for the electrical and mechanical industries, and Chair of EURIS, an industry-led group monitoring the changing relationship between the UK and the EU. He has a particular expertise in energy and the use of energy, with DPhil in the energy efficiency of housing, with an early career in research at the Building Research Establishment.
Melanie is the FRC Board member responsible for FRC's promotion of audit quality.Melanie joined the FRC in June 2012 and was responsible for our policy direction and implementation through the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes, financial reporting, audit and assurance and actuarial standards. Melanie has a background in professional and financial services she was a partner in PwC leaving the firm in April 2009 and prior to joining the FRC was Chief Risk Officer at Friends Life. Melanie is non-executive director and chair of the risk, compliance and audit committee and the UK Municipal Bonds Agency plc.
Carol Hall is a member of the ABI’s Regulation team and the Management team, although works across the whole ABI on EU and International policy work. Carol has over 10 years experience of combining financial services and European affairs, and is a well-known insurance lobbyist at European level. Carol joined the ABI in 2008 from the European Parliament in Brussels, where she was the assistant to Sharon Bowles MEP, on the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee, from 2005-2008, and prior to that, assistant to Chris Huhne MEP from 2003-2005.
Chris Dickens is the Chief Operating Officer for HSBC’s Markets business in EMEA. HSBC Markets is one of the largest markets businesses of its kind, with 24 hour coverage and local knowledge. Chris also has global responsibility for the implementation of new regulatory requirements within HSBC’s Markets business.
Miriam Gonzalez, co-chair of Dechert’s International Trade and Government Regulation practice, focuses on international and EU trade law policy. Miriam advises clients on Brexit, trade policy, trade agreements, sanctions and embargoes, export controls, antidumping, foreign investment proceedings and EU internal market regulations and infringement proceedings.Miriam has been consistently recognised by the Legal 500 UK, ranked as a Leading Individual in 2016 and 2017 with her practice ranked Tier 1 for advice on Brexit. Prior to joining Dechert, Miriam led the trade practice of a major international law firm. She previously served seven years as a Senior Member of the Cabinet for EU External Relations Commissioners Chris Patten and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, where she had responsibility for trade policy as well as EU relations with the Middle East, the U.S. and Latin America.Miriam also acted as lead EU negotiator for the WTO telecoms agreement and led the services negotiations for EU bilateral and WTO accession agreements on e-commerce as well as on energy, postal and construction services.Miriam is a Non-Executive Member of the Board and Chair of the Audit Committee of UBS Limited. She is also the Chair of Inspiring Girls International.
Milagros Miranda Rojas is a special advisor on WTO and International Trade Law based in London.Milagros is an international trade law expert with more than 15 years’ experience representing and advising governments on international trade law and trade policy issues, including as a representative to the World Trade Organization and as a negotiator concerning free trade agreements. In particular, Milagros led, or was involved in, negotiations that culminated in the FTAs between Peru and the EU, South Korea, EFTA and Japan. She has also negotiated on behalf of the G77 and China and on behalf of regional groups at the multilateral level.She was also the lead country negotiator in WTO Trade Negotiating Committee and all WTO Goods negotiations and Committees including on Agriculture, Non Agricultural Market Access, Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures, Technical barriers to trade, Services, , and Fisheries Subsidies. She was also significantly involved in many WTO dispute settlement cases.Milagros’s areas of expertise include international trade law, trade policy and trade negotiations as well as compliance with WTO agreements and regulations and implementation of international trade treaties. She has an in-depth understanding of WTO’s rules, negotiations and decision-making process. She also has broad experience on sustainable development and climate change matters.
David has a policy interest in international financial market reform and EU financial affairs. He earned a PhD in politics at the University of Strathclyde and attended Harvard. He currently works as Executive Director, Policy with responsibility for tax and competitiveness at business member organisation London First. David has worked at the Democratic progressive think tank, Center for American Progress, in Washington D.C. on policy issues relating to US financial regulatory reform and economic growth. He has published articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and his work has featured in policy publications at the Center for American Progress and London First. Prior to his policy work David had a successful commercial career in finance and corporate communications.
Mickaël Laurans has been the Head of International at the Law Society of England and Wales since February 2017. He heads a team of 19 split between London and Brussels and dealing inter alia with market access and international trade in legal services as well as the impact of Brexit on legal services. Prior to his current position, Mickaël headed for five years the Joint Brussels Office of the UK Law Societies, representing the UK solicitors’ professions in front of the EU and WTO institutions. He is also the UK delegation expert on the International legal services of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe. A Franco-British national, Mickaël has lived and worked in four different EU member-states.
Emma McClarkin has been an active member of Conservative Party since she was very young, and has law and politics background. She was first elected and MEP in 2009 and is now serving her second term. In 2012 she joined the European Parliament's International Trade Committee and was appointed as the ECR Group Coordinator for the committee in 2014. In this role, she is the lead MEP in the Group on Trade matters. This includes the EU-US trade deal (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and EU-China Investment Agreement. Emma is at the forefront of opening up other trade deals or modernising some of those already in place, such as the trade pillar of the Global Agreement with Mexico and the proposed free trade agreement with Australia. Emma also represents the ECR on the Parliament’s WTO Steering Committee and both the INTA Monitoring Groups on Brexit and on the US. As well as following topics from digital trade to public procurement, Emma has taken a strong interest in animal welfare issues over the years that she has been in Parliament. Through her time on the INTA committee, Emma has worked hard to promote free trade and to prevent the European Commission from pursuing protectionist trade policies.
Anthony Woolich is HFW's Head of Competition and Regulation. He specialises in trade regulation and competition law. He is admitted in England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
Anthony is a member of the City of London Solicitors Company's Committee on Commercial Law and its sub-committee on Brexit and the Steering Committee of the Procurement Lawyers Association, as well as the Law Society's Competition Section, the UK Association for European Law and the Competition Law Association. He is also a Freeman of the City of London Solicitors Company.
Anthony was ranked 7 in the top 10 lawyers worldwide by Lloyd's List for 2016, with his contributions on Brexit being highlighted. His team recently won World ECR Sanctions Law Firm of the year 2017 (Europe) and Export Control Law Firm of the Year 2017 (Europe). He is recommended in Chambers 2017 where he is "described by a client as 'affable and approachable' and as someone who is 'thoughtful and doesn't rush to judgment'". Legal 500 2016 commented and quoted commentators saying that Anthony leads the "dedicated, invaluable" team at HFW, also describing him as "outstanding" and HFW's practice as "top-notch". Legal 500 2017 commented that he "is noted for his ‘keen analytical mind’ and ‘good grasp of the commercial impact’ and heads the ‘professional’, ‘responsive’, and ‘client-focused’ team at HFW".
Anthony is frequently quoted in the press, and regularly gives presentations on his specialist areas. Anthony has appeared as a panellist at two of HFW's Brexit events. A snapshot of these panel discussions can be found here http://www.hfw.com/Anthony-Woolich
Stephen Jones has spent nearly thirty years working in financial services including with Santander, Barclays, Citigroup and Schroders.Stephen is the first CEO of UK Finance. He was a Senior Adviser to US private equity firm Cerberus until June 2017. He was Santander UK’s Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Santander UK Board until October 2015. He joined the company in November 2011. Stephen chaired Santander UK’s product approval and pricing committees for all business lines, as well as its asset and liability, reporting and disclosure committees.Whilst working for Santander UK, he served as a member of the Advisory Council of CityUK, the Practitioners’ Panel of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Board of the BBA. Between 2002 and 2011, Stephen worked at Barclays, for the final 3 years as Head of Investor Relations at Barclays PLC. He was also a member of the Group Regulatory and Public Policy Committee and the Governance and Control Committee of the UK Retail Bank. Previously, he was Managing Director, Head of Financial Solutions Group, Debt Capital Markets and Equity Capital Markets and Co-head of Corporate Investment Banking for Barclays Capital for the Europe, Middle East and Africa.Before joining Barclays in 2002, Stephen spent 15 years at Schroders (later Schroder Salomon Smith Barney) in a number of corporate client advisory roles. Stephen holds a Law Degree from Queens’ College, Cambridge and is a qualified lawyer. He is married with 3 children.
Jeegar Kakkad joined ADS at the beginning of June 2013 as the Chief Economist & Director of Policy, where he manages the policy, media and government affairs team. Prior to joining ADS, Jeegar was the UK Government Affairs Manager at Jaguar Land Rover, where he led all tax, regulatory and supply chain finance campaigning and managed JLR’s extensive political visits programme. Previously, he was also a Senior Economist at EEF, leading their macroeconomic forecasting and innovation, taxation and enterprise policy lobbying. Jeegar also worked at The Social Market Foundation, a London-based think tank, and at The Brookings Institution, in Washington DC. Jeegar holds first class Degrees in Economics (BA) from Princeton University and in Economic Policy (MPA) from the London School of Economics.
Bernardine Adkins is Head of Gowling WLG's EU, Trade and Competition team. Consistently recognised as a 'leading individual' by legal directories, Bernardine is described in Chambers as a "heavyweight antitrust specialist", and has been named as one of The Lawyer's "Hot 100". She has a wealth of some 30 years' EU, trade and competition law experience, successfully guiding transactions through the European Commission and UK competition authorities. She also enjoys a reputation as an innovative litigator, acting on a range of high-profile and complex cases before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. Bernardine was most recently named as a leading expert in Euromoney's Women in Business Law 2017 guide. She is also on the Advisory Board of the Competition Law Forum, at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
Hamid Mamdouh is an international trade lawyer and former Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO. Prior to that he was a Senior Counsellor in the Services Division and was Secretary of the WTO Council for Trade in Services since the establishment of the WTO in 1995. During that time, he was also responsible for legal affairs in the area of Trade in Services. During the Uruguay Round negotiations his responsibilities included legal matters relating to the drafting of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). His previous positions in the GATT include: Assistant to the Deputy Director-General of the GATT and legal advisor on GATT dispute settlement.
Alan was the Founder of LCP Consulting, now part of BearingPoint®. LCP is the leading independent consultancy in supply chain and logistics, receiving world recognition in its specialisation. In his career he has consulted for more than 400 clients across every industry sector. Alan is a thought leader and educator, a regular speaker at conferences, and the author of many papers and articles. In 2015 he published a book with Professor Martin Christopher under the title ‘Business Operations Models – becoming a disruptive competitor’In his career he has consulted for more than 400 clients across every industry sector and in more than 20 countries. That work has supported a wide cross-section of the UK’s top retailers where his leading theme is business transformation through supply chain effectiveness; in manufacturing and logistics his work has focused on global supply chain management and operations. He has made a particular specialisation of the logistics services sector, looking at how to construct and manage value based contracts. He has recently been supporting the work of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, contributing to government and its membership on the implications of Brexit.Alan is also a Visiting Professor in Supply Chain and Logistics Management at Cranfield’s School of Management. He holds an MSc in Business Administration from the London Business School and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Birmingham University. His early career was in line management in the food and furniture sectors.
James Webber is a partner of the London office and his practice focuses on EU and UK antitrust law. James is recognized as a leading figure in the next generation of antitrust lawyers. He was selected by both Legal 500 and Chambers guides in the UK (2016) and Europe (2017), he was selected by Global Competition Review as one of the "40 under 40" brightest antitrust lawyers in the world. In 2017, Who’s Who Legal nominated James as “Future Leader” in competition law.James’s competition practice and experience are very broad covering merger control, behavioural competition, State aid and litigation. His work has included acting as lead advisor on EUMR and CMA merger approvals, State aid notifications and litigation, defending cartel damages actions, advising in respect of UK market investigations and studies as well as counseling clients on on-going antitrust and competition matters.
Allie Renison is the Institute of Directors’ Head of Europe and Trade Policy, she leads on devising recommendations and representing the voice of members on EU policy matters both to Westminster and Whitehall and with European institutions. She provides the link between business and Government on increasing international trade and has authored a number of reports on trends in both trade and trade policy, as well as running a number of trade missions for IoD members around the world every year. She also routinely provides advocacy for the IoD on a range of regulatory issues in Brussels.Allie joined the IoD in April 2014. Prior to this, she was Research Director at Business for Britain, the campaign focused on renegotiating the UK's relationship with the EU. Allie has previously advised a number of parliamentarians in both Houses on EU legislative issues, with particular focus on trade and employment policy areas. Allie holds a Masters Degree in the political economy of emerging economies in the post-Soviet space.
Mike Cherry is the National Chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). An active FSB member for over 20 years, Mike previously led FSB’s campaigning and policy work as National Policy Director, a post he held for almost a decade. He is committed to ensuring the voice of small business is heard at the highest levels and has served as a special advisor to the Treasury Select Committee on small business finance. Mike is a successful entrepreneur with 40 years’ experience in the timber and manufacturing industry. His family business, W.H. Mason & Son Ltd, supplies cask closures to international brewers and produces laser-engraved promotional and giftware products. Juggling both his commitment to FSB and running his own business, Mike has travelled extensively across Europe, exporting prime sawn timber to furniture manufacturers and promoting specialised woodturning CNC lathes. Mike served in the Territorial Army (TA) for five years, gaining a commission in 1973. He has formerly worked as an Apprenticeship Commissioner and is a Trustee for the RAF Heraldry Trust. As a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Mike is keen to promote employability for all, enterprise, and manufacturing across the globe.
Namali is a former Australian Government trade negotiator, with over a decade of experience in WTO and FTA negotiations, as well as international trade disputes. She previously undertook a diplomatic posting to London as the senior trade specialist at the Australian High Commission in London, where she managed Australia's participation in the G20 Leaders' Summit in the UK. Following her posting, she remained in London and was appointed Group Head of International Relations at Prudential plc where she managed the Group's trade and international policy agenda across the ASEAN region.She is currently the Trade Advisor to EEF providing specialist advice on Brexit negotiations.
Victoria is a senior associate at leading City law firm CMS. She is currently on secondment acting as senior counsel to the Legatum Institute Special Trade Commission, a programme set up after the referendum bringing together experienced former trade negotiators from the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Singapore to guide the process of developing trade policy and undertaking negotiations that the UK and other governments are engaged in as the UK leaves the EU. In her work with the Special Trade Commission Victoria has co-authored “Brexit, Movement of Goods and the Supply Chain”, an analysis of the processes, barriers and mitigants associated with importing to and exporting from outside of the EU customs union, and “A new UK/EU Relationship in Financial Services – a Bilateral Regulatory Partnership” a proposal for dual regulatory coordination to enable cross-border financial service business to continue between the UK and the EU.
Anthony Belchambers is a barrister and Chairman of Saxo Capital Markets and a NED of Westpac Europe. He is also Chairman of the Industry Advisory Group to the APPG on Wholesale Markets and of the Honorary Advisory Council of the Legatum Financial Services Forum. He was previously general counsel of the London derivative markets and, before that, of a UK regulatory authority. More recently, he was founder and CEO of the FOA (now part of FIA) and a co-founder and deputy chairman of the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum. Anthony is also a Freeman of the City of London.