CC welcomes new members

COMPETITION COMMISSION News Release (14/09) issued by COI News Distribution Service on 31 March 2009

Peter Freeman, Chairman of the Competition Commission (CC), has welcomed the appointment of 11 new members to the CC.

The new members, whose appointments have been made by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), are as follows: Robin Aaronson, Phil Evans, Simon Evenett, Roger Finbow, John Longworth, Robin Mason, Anthony Morris, Stephen Oram, Edward Smith, Tony Stoller and Roger Witcomb. (Short biographies for each available below.)

Peter Freeman said:
I am delighted to welcome these new members to the CC, who bring with them a wealth of expertise from many different fields. One of the CC's greatest strengths is the range of experience and viewpoints that our members bring to their role as decision makers in our inquiries. These appointments will clearly continue that tradition.

Notes to editors
1. The CC is an independent public body, which carries out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries.

2. The CC consists of a Chairman, three Deputy Chairmen, two non-executive directors and around 45 panel members. Members are chosen from this pool to serve on inquiry groups, which are usually chaired by the Chairman or one the Deputy Chairmen. Fifteen of the current panel members' appointments end this September, hence the appointment of a large number of new members.

3. The new members have all been appointed for eight years, and will be paid according to the amount of time that they spend working for the CC, based on a daily rate of £350. The appointments carry no right of pension, gratuity or allowance on its termination.

4. The appointments have been made in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice.

5. All appointments are made on merit, and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity to be made public. None of the new members are politically active, apart from Robin Aaronson, who has canvassed and delivered leaflets on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Party.

6. Enquiries should be directed to Rory Taylor on 020 7271 0242 (email rory.taylor@cc.gsi.gov.uk).

Biographies

Robin Aaronson has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. Robin is an economist specializing in competition policy. In the 1980s he was senior economic adviser to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Subsequently, he has worked as a consultant in the field, as a partner at Coopers and Lybrand and later at LECG.

Phillip Evans has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. He is an independent consultant on consumer, competition and trade issues and a senior consultant to Fipra International. He is a visiting fellow at Oxford University's Said Business School Centre for Corporate Reputation.

Simon Evenett has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. Simon is Professor of International Trade & Economic Development, University of St Gallen, Switzerland. He is also Programme Director of the International Trade and Regional Economics Programme of the Centre of Economic Policy Research. His research interests include national and international cartels, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and the pros and cons of international norms on competition law and policy.

Roger Finbow has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2017. Roger has been a partner of international solicitors Ashurst LLP since 1984 and retires on 30 April 2009. The last five years have been spent as Managing Partner of the Corporate Department. He specializes in competition law and is the joint author of UK Merger Control Law and Practice.

John Longworth has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. Originally a scientist, John has been in business for 25 years holding board and senior positions in the Corporate Group, Tesco and Asda. He was economic spokesman for the CBI, and a non-executive director of the York Foundation Hospitals Trust. He was a Health & Safety Commissioner for six years and has held many other public and non-executive positions.

Robin Mason has been appointed as a reporting panel member and a specialist member on the Communications Act Panel from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2017. Professor Mason is currently the Eric Roll Professor of Economics and Head of Economics at the University of Southampton, where he is director of the Centre for Research in the Information Economy. He joins the University of Exeter as Professor of Economics in September 2009. He is a fellow of the CEPR and associate editor of the Journal of Industrial Economics. He has acted as adviser to Ofcom; and the Prime Minister of Mauritius on competition policy. He has published widely in the economics of information and industrial organization.

Tony Morris has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2017. He is a solicitor with over 30 years' experience of UK and EU competition law. He has spent the past 24 years as a partner in the city firm of Linklaters specializing in the control of cartels and mergers and the conduct of industry competition inquiries.

Stephen Oram has been appointed as a reporting panel member and a specialist member on both the Communications Act and Newspaper Panels from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. Stephen worked for 28 years at director level in the regional and national newspaper industry and as a Chief Executive of daily, weekly and free regional newspapers. He was Director of the Newspaper Publishers Association for ten years. Currently he is Executive Chairman of the London Press Club, non-executive Chairman of a national newspaper advertising consumer protection scheme and National Secretary of the Western Front Association.

Edward Smith has been appointed as a reporting panel member from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. A former senior partner and Global Assurance COO and Strategy Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, he now enjoys a portfolio of board roles in Education, Transport, sport, thought leadership and the environment and sustainable development. He is Chairman of WWF-UK, Deputy Chairman of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and a Member of Council and Treasurer of Chatham House. He joined the board of the Department for Transport on 1 January 2009.

Tony Stoller CBE has been appointed as a reporting panel member and a specialist member on both the Communications Act and Newspaper Panels from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. He was Chief Executive of the Radio Authority until it was subsumed into Ofcom in 2003 when he then helped set up the new regulator. He was also formerly a Managing Director of the department store Tyrell and Green, and a principal director of the John Lewis Partnership. He is currently Deputy Chair of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Chair of the Committee of Reference for F&C Asset Management's Stewardship Funds, Editor of The Friends Quarterly, and a member of the Freedom of Information Tribunal.

Roger Witcomb has been appointed as a reporting panel member and a specialist member on the Utilities Panel from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2017. He is Chair of Governors of the University of Winchester and a non-executive director of a number of companies, including Anglian Water. He was Finance Director of National Power from 1996 to 2000, having previously been at BP and Cambridge University, where he taught economics.