Trainers
Sylvia Rook, Principal Training Officer, Trading Standards Institute
Sylvia Rook has been employed by Warwickshire Trading Standards Service since 1986, and is currently seconded to the Trading Standards Institute as Principal Training Officer. She is also Joint TSI Lead Officer for Fair Trading. Sylvia represented the Trading Standards Profession at a number of workshops hosted by the former DTI and the OFT to examine how the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive would be incorporated into UK law, and was able to have some input into the final version of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. She then joined the OFT on secondment, where she helped devise and deliver a nationwide training programme on the new Regulations. Her training skills are now being utilised by TSI to train businesses and Trading Standards Professionals on a variety of subjects.
Dave Thompson MSP
Long-time member and now a Vice President of the Institute, Dave spent more than 35 years in Scottish trading standards administration. His early contact with the profession came from his employment as a young apprentice with Avery scalemakers, and he was soon attracted into the local authority role. Serving with a number of authorities including Ross and Cromarty, and the Western Isles, he went on to be Director of Protective Services for the Highland Council for many years. Dave is an elected Member of the Scottish Parliament representing the Highlands and Islands constituency region. He is a member of the Justice Committee and maintains a keen interest in the economic and health issues that most affect consumers, being active in cross-party groups as diverse as credit unions to crofting, and heart disease to nuclear disarmament.
Jane MacGregor, Trading Standards Institute
Jane MacGregor, FTA Trainer, Trading Standards Institute & Managing Director of MacGregor Consulting Limited. A Trading Standards Professional with over 20 years experience, Jane was Head of Product Safety with Essex County Council for more than 10 years. Following a 9 month secondment to the Tobacco Policy team at the Department of Health she established her own consultancy business specialising in the needs of Local Authorities and businesses. Jane works extensively with the Trading Standards Institute, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the IDeA to develop and deliver of a range of training for Local Authority staff, Elected Members and business organisations. She is an accredited trainer for the Fair Trading Award, Food Safety and Nutrition training awards and has recently developed the new Fair Trading Award module “ Do you Pass “ ; designed for businesses addressing the difficult issue of under ages sales .
Alan Dobie, Executive Director, Scottish Business Crime Centre
Alan was appointed in the summer 2003 as Executive Director of the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC). He is a Business Studies graduate of the University of Edinburgh with thirty years experience in general management with Royal Mail Group. He has increased the profile of the SBCC not just in Scotland but, in a wider UK perspective. This success has been delivered through key partnerships with the Police in Scotland, the Scottish Government and key stakeholders from the wider Scottish business community. Alan is a member of the Board of Crimestoppers – Scotland, and is a member of the Home Office Identity Fraud Consumer Awareness Group. He has a Postgraduate qualification in Marketing. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and is a Chartered Marketer.
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