APPOINTMENTS TO BRITISH HALLMARKING COUNCIL

10 Mar 2004 12:45 PM

Consumer Minister Gerry Sutcliffe today announced appointments to the British Hallmarking Council. The appointments run until December 2006.

The British Hallmarking Council is a non-departmental public body responsible for ensuring there are adequate facilities for hallmarking in the United Kingdom and advising the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on hallmarking issues and the operation of the Hallmarking Act.

Mr Sutcliffe has made four new appointments: Linda Campbell, Mike Drewry, Martyn Pugh and Stefan Waclawski.

He has re-appointed the following members: Peter Atkinson, Fod Barnes, Dr Peter Clapham, John Evans, Adam Green and Zoe Simpson.

Hallmarking involves the testing and marking of articles of precious metal (gold, silver and platinum) to indicate that they meet minimum standards of purity.

The UK operates a system of compulsory hallmarking by independent offices, called Assay Offices, providing a high level of consumer protection.

The Minister has responsibility for appointing 10 members to the Council and the Assay Offices appoint a further six members.

The Assay Offices have re-appointed: Robin Buchanan-Dunlop and Richard Vanderpump (London Assay Office); Roger Burman and Bill Good (Birmingham Assay Office); and Tom Murray (Edinburgh Assay Office). Simon Batiste (Sheffield Assay Office) is a new appointment to the Council.

Notes for Editors

1. Biographical details are at Annex A.

2. The British Hallmarking Council was established by the Hallmarking Act 1973 which requires that most articles described as gold, silver or platinum are hallmarked, either by a UK Assay Office or by an Assay Office in another country recognised for this purpose.

3. The Council has a number of duties, including ensuring that adequate facilities for the assaying and hallmarking of articles of precious metal are available in the UK; supervising the activities of the Assay Offices; taking steps to ensure the enforcement of hallmarking law; and generally advising the Secretary of State on matters relating to hallmarking. It is largely funded by the Assay Offices, which derive their income from charges to industry for assaying and hallmarking services.

4. The Act requires the Secretary of State to appoint 10 members of the Council and the Assay Offices to appoint six members. Four of the members appointed by the Secretary of State are required to be engaged in trading or the manufacture of articles of precious metals, and at least three other members must have experience in organisations or activities involved in the protection of the consumer.

5. Membership of the Council is unremunerated, but travel and subsistence expenses can be claimed.

6. None of the appointees currently hold another Ministerial public appointment.

7. Information about the work of the Council may be obtained from Mr David Gwyther, Secretary of the Council, at St Philips House, St Philips Place, Birmingham B3 2PP (Tel: 0121 678 1414).

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Annex A

Biographical details

Linda Campbell OBE is the Chair of the food authentication and certification company PAI and non-executive director of the Institute of Quality Assurance (IQA). She was previously Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and a Director of the British Standards Institute (BSI). She was awarded an OBE in 2003 for services to accreditation.

Mike Drewry is Director of Environmental and Consumer Services for the City of Edinburgh Council. He is a qualified Trading Standards Officer and has held a number of Director level posts in Departments with responsibility for enforcing consumer protection laws and regulations. He is a Council Member of the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) and is one of the Institute's lead officers with responsibility for hallmarking.

Martyn Pugh is a designer/maker of silverware and jewellery. His business supplies collections of silverware and jewellery and individual pieces to clients both nationally and internationally. He is Vice Chairman and a National Committee Member of the British Jewellery Association (BJA) and a Committee Member of the Association of British Designer Silversmiths.

Stefan Waclawski is a Director of the multiple retail jewellers M M Henderson Ltd, which has 25 branches mostly in Scotland. He has over 25 years retail jewellery experience and is currently responsible, amongst other things, for purchasing, pricing and distribution of gold, silver and diamond jewellery and dealing with the UK Assay Offices.

Fod Barnes is a former Head of Public Affairs at the National Consumer Council. He is a consultant with extensive experience of providing policy advice on consumer related matters to clients at senior level including Ministers and Sectoral Regulators. He has an interest in silversmithing.

Peter Clapham is a former Chief Executive of the National Engineering Laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory and National Weights and Measures Laboratory. He is a now a consultant specialising in standards, testing and conformity assessment. During the past two years he has chaired the Council's sub-office applications committee.

Adam Green is the Managing Director of a family jewellery business specialising in quality goods for independent and specialist jewellers. He has had over thirty years experience in the jewellery manufacturing and retail trade.

Peter Atkinson is a former Assistant Director - Trading Policy to the British Retail Consortium and former Director of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Trade and Industry. He serves as an Independent Panel Member hearing appeals against Croydon Council's charges for social services and is a member of the Management Committee of Croydon Meals Agency. He has recently been appointed a Justice of the Peace.

John Evans is former Director of Environmental Services for Hounslow Borough Council. He is now studying for a BA (Hons) in Ceramics at the University of Westminster. He is a Fellow of the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), a member of the TSI Executive Board, and does occasional consultancy work in the consumer and environmental fields.

Zoe Simpson is chief executive of Elizabeth Gage Ltd, a small manufacturer of high quality jewellery. She also sits on the Board of STC Enterprises Ltd, which runs the commercial part of the operations at the Courtauld Institute.