Admired around the world for its creativity, the UK advertising industry sets the standard in successful self-regulation. Our industry is governed by Advertising Codes that are designed to protect consumers and create a level playing field for advertisers.
The Codes are the responsibility of two industry Committees - the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) and are independently administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Here you can find out more about the Committees, Executive and Panels that support their work:
Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP)
Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP)
Industry Advisory Panel
Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel
Advertising Advisory Committee
Online Publications Media Panel
Our Executive
Our Committees
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) are responsible for writing and updating the UK Advertising Codes. Chaired by James Best, the Committees are made up of representatives of advertisers, agencies, media owners and other industry groups, all of which are committed to upholding the highest standards in non-broadcast and broadcast advertising.
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James Best
CAP Chairman
James was appointed Chair of CAP and BCAP in April 2011, after serving four years as an Industry Member on the ASA Council.
He worked for over 30 years in advertising, after joining BMP as a trainee in 1975. He was Chairman of the agency – then BMP DDB - from 1989 to 2000 and Chief People & Strategy Officer of DDB Worldwide before his retirement from the network in 2006.
James was Chairman of the UK Advertising Association from 1997 until 2002 and President of the European Association of Communication Agencies 2003-05, as well as a long-serving member of IPA Council.
Committee of Advertising Practice
CAP writes the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) and helps enforce ASA rulings.
Established in 1961, the Committee and the Code marked their 50th anniversary in 2011. The existing CAP membership consists of representatives from:
- Advertising Association
- Cinema Advertising Association
- Data & Marketing Association
- Direct Selling Association
- Incorporated Society of British Advertisers
- Influencer Marketing Trade Body
- Institute of Practitioners in Advertising
- Institute of Promotional Marketing
- Internet Advertising Bureau
- Mobile UK
- News Media Association
- Newsbrands Scotland
- Outsmart Out of Home
- Professional Publishers Association
- Proprietary Association of Great Britain
- Royal Mail
- Television on Demand Industry Forum
Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice
The success of CAP’s regulation of non-broadcast ads encouraged Ofcom to contract-out the regulation of broadcast advertising to the ASA system. This led to the formation of a co-regulatory partnership and BCAP. BCAP writes the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. The existing BCAP membership consists of representatives from:
- Advertising Association
- Association for Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services
- Channel 4 Television Corporation
- Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd
- Data & Marketing Association
- Electronic Retailing Association UK
- Incorporated Society of British Advertisers
- Institute of Practitioners in Advertising
- ITV plc
- Radiocentre
- S4C
- Sky UK Ltd
- STV
Our panels
- a recommendation before the ASA Executive gives it to Council, either at the request of the Executive or any party to the complaint. The Panels’ opinion will not be included in the recommendation but will be reported to Council.
- specific copy advice
- the application of a Code rule
- common industry practice or,
- other general regulatory subjects.
Industry Advisory Panel
The Industry Advisory Panel brings together marketing and media practitioners, others with expert knowledge of the UK marketing industry and one ASA Council member. The Panel advises both CAP and BCAP on non-broadcast and broadcast matters and meets approximately six times every year.
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Tim Duffy
Chairman
Tim joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1986 as a Strategic Planner and became one of the founders of M&C Saatchi which he helped build into a top 10 agency. He was appointed Chief Executive in 2004 and Chairman of the UK Group in 2009.
Tim has worked for a range of clients including; the launch of the National Lottery, the London Olympics, British Airways, GlaxoSmithKline, NatWest, Procter & Gamble, and various government behaviour change campaigns, including Change4Life.
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Shahriar Coupal
Director of Advertising Policy and Practice
As Director of Advertising Policy and Practice, Shahriar oversees the organisation’s Regulatory Policy, Copy Advice and Compliance functions.
As Director for the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), Shahriar is responsible for the effective running of committee business, which includes updating the UK Advertising Codes and associated guidance. He also oversees the effective running of the various CAP Panels and the independent Advertising Advisory Committee.
Shahriar previously worked at Ofcom. He studied Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury and Economics at Birkbeck.
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Emma Smith
Copy Advice Manager
Emma took over as Operations Manager for Copy Advice in 2017. Her team provides advertisers, agencies and media owners with free and confidential advice, giving an informed view of the likely acceptability of non-broadcast marketing communications under the CAP Code.
Emma studied Law, specialising in Entertainment Law, at the University of Westminster before joining the ASA in 2011 as a Complaints Executive and becoming a Senior Complaints Executive in 2014. She moved to Copy Advice in 2015.
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Jonathan Allan
Panel member
Jonathan was appointed as Chief Operating Officer in 2020, following two years as Chief Commercial Officer and seven years as Sales Director at Channel 4.
Jonathan graduated in Economics from Newcastle University and immediately joined a full-service agency, Cravens Advertising, in the City.
He joined the TV department at major London media agency OMD UK in 1995 and then was appointed to the Board as TV Director in January 2000. He subsequently moved into communications strategy and new business for a number of years and was appointed Deputy Managing Director in February 2005 and, in January 2007, he became Managing Director.
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Nick Baughan
Panel member
Nick Baughan is Facebook’s Director of Agencies leading the platform’s relationships with the creative and investment industries across the UK.
Prior to joining Facebook in 2019, Nick spent 13 years at WPP Plc across a number of media investment agency brands, latterly as CEO of Essence across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Nick has sat on the World Economic Forum Global Council for Information & Entertainment in addition to numerous domestic industry trade bodies and councils including the IPA, the Advertising Association, the IAB and Effie UK. Nick also mentors extensively across the industry.Nick lives in North London with his wife and two children.
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Jenny Biggam
Panel member
Jenny set up the7stars in 2005 after a career in media agencies including Zenith and Carat.
In the last 17 years the7stars has grown to be the UK’s largest media independent agency with billings of over £425million and over 250 people. The agency has been named Agency of the Year by Campaign Magazine (2015 and 2017), Media Week (2015), The Drum (2018) and Mediatel (2018). They have won numerous awards including golds at Media Week and an IPA Effectiveness Award. Jenny is particularly passionate about workplace culture and personally leads a number of diversity and inclusion initiatives at the agency. She is particularly proud that the agency has been listed in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For consistently for the last eight years. In 2020 the7stars were crowned Campaign’s Best Places To Work: Top 5 Large Companies Winner. In 2016 Jenny launched a Foundation to support under-privileged under-16 year olds in the UK and the7stars donates 5% of profits to good causes via the Foundation. Jenny is a member of the IPA Media Futures Group, the IPA/ISBA Sustainable Working Relationships Group, the ASA’s Industry Advisory Panel and the British Heart Foundation’s Marketing Committee.
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Leonie Blakeway
Panel member
Leonie is the Deputy Director for Strategy and Campaigns in the Government Communication Service, overseeing all government campaigns and delivering priority campaigns for No10, most recently on cost of living schemes and energy reduction advice for vulnerable audiences.
Before this, Leonie led on climate change campaigns for government in advance of COP26, championing positive behaviours the public could take to help tackle carbon emissions.
Leonie has worked across the communications landscape in the public and private sector. She started her career as a journalist at the International New York Times before working as a lobbyist where she championed a number of social causes including improving conditions for women in work with Jess Phillips MP.
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Matt Bush
Panel member
Matt is Managing Director of Agencies , Partners and Creative at Google where he works with leading advertisers and agencies to help them get the most from the digital opportunity.
Matt joined Google in 2010 from the digital publishing industry and before that he worked in National and Local press. Matt is a regular public speaker on many topics around digital, technology and media and is also a Trustee of NABS. Matt loves running, especially to music that reminds him of his youth, and doing his best to be a great Dad to 3 daughters.
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Dominic Carter
Panel member
Dominic is currently EVP, Publisher, The Sun, with responsibility and oversight for The Sun’s business strategy, its continued audience growth and the delivery of its digital advertising goals.
He has held various commercial roles at The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times. In 2006, he was appointed as Trading Director for The Times and Sunday Times, and in 2008 his role was expanded to include The Sun. Dominic was appointed Commercial Director of News UK in 2011, and Managing Director, Commercial in July 2015. He was named Chief Commercial Officer in January 2016. In 2018 Dominic was appointed Group Chief Commercial Officer for News UK and its radio stations in the UK and Ireland, overseeing all national commercial operations across print, digital, video and audio.
Dominic is a keen motoring enthusiast and is married with three children. -
Bhavit Chandrani
Panel member
Bhav Chandrani is Director of Creative & Digital Partnerships at ITV, heading up sponsorship, ad funded programming, creative and digital partnerships, and partnership innovations for ITV’s Commercial team.
With over 20 years in the industry, Bhav's passion is in bringing brands and content together to make meaningful campaigns. Bhav leads ITV's commercial relationships with other media brands such as Twitter and Global Radio and new innovations such as Shoppability and ITV's first brand funded steps into the Metaverse.
Bhav is a founding member of the diversity network, MeFA (Media For All), and Board Director of Metavision.
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Alexia Clifford
Panel member
Alexia is Chief Communications Officer at GambleAware, the leading charity working to keep people safe from gambling harms.
Before joining GambleAware, Alexia was Director of Marketing at Public Health England (PHE), where she led a number of highly successful, flagship social marketing campaigns including:
- Change4Life, which encouraged millions of families in England to ‘eat well, move more, live longer’
- Stoptober, which helped more than a million people to quit smoking
- Every Mind Matters, England’s first national mental health literacy campaign.
Alexia has also delivered a suite of award-winning digital products that have changed behaviour at scale, from the ‘Couch to 5K’ running app to government’s first ‘voice skill’, the Breastfeeding Friend.
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Ed Couchman
Panel member
Ed Couchman is an experienced business leader with over two decades of experience in the media and advertising industry at the heart of the digital transformation. He is currently the Head of Sales, UK & Northern Europe at Spotify, where he leads the company's advertising sales operations across the region.
Prior to joining Spotify, Ed was the General Manager of Snap in the UK, where he led the camera company's largest European sales office. During his tenure, he worked hand in hand with advertisers, helping them to best leverage Snapchat's innovative ad formats, as well as unpacking the tangible business impact and ROI they provide.
Before joining Snap, Ed served as Director of Agency Partnerships at Facebook, where he worked for over six years. Prior to this, he was Head of Digital and Future Media at Channel 4 and led the display team at Associated New Media.
In addition to his work in the industry, Ed is actively involved in several charitable organizations. He serves as a trustee of the MediaTrust, a national charity that uses the power of media to give charities a voice and change lives. He is also a member of several industry bodies, including the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Industry Advisory Panel to the Advertising Association.
Ed is highly respected by his peers and colleagues for his strategic thinking, business acumen, and leadership skills. He is a sought-after speaker and has spoken at several industry events, sharing his insights on the evolving media and advertising landscape. -
Matthew Dearden
Panel member
Matthew is co-founder and Chief Executive of Alight Media, the fastest-growing out-of-home media owner in the UK. Alight Media is digital-first, helping advertisers achieve truly national reach across the UK by bringing previously overlooked areas to light.
Matthew was previously President of Clear Channel Europe, having joined as CEO of Clear Channel UK in 2010. As well as continued UK responsibilities including major digitisation projects and contract wins, Matthew was responsible for Clear Channel’s business in 18 European countries, and had global responsibilities across Sales, Marketing, IT and HR.
Before Clear Channel, Matthew worked client-side in senior marketing and commercial roles at British Telecom, Telewest Broadband and Procter & Gamble. During his most recent client role as Marketing Director at BT, he was responsible for acquiring, keeping and in-life marketing to over 10m customers with a nine-figure marketing budget.
As a business leader with extensive experience across sectors, Matthew has held board memberships and Presidencies of various industry bodies.
Matthew is the father of two fabulous children, a fan of the colour purple, beekeeping, roots music and climbing mountains.
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Alison Hastings
Independent Member
Alison is a former daily newspaper editor who has sat on the Boards of a range of regulators including the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification, the Gambling Commission and the Press Complaints Commission.
She is currently a lay member of Durham University Council, a member of the Press Association Trust and a non-exec at Motability Operations PLC. Alison sits on the ASA Council as an independent member.
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Vicki Holgate
Panel member
Vicki is Executive Strategy Director (Government Comms) at MullenLowe, responsible for the overall strategic direction of MullenLowe’s broad spectrum of Government business.
Vicki has spent nearly 30 years as a strategist in the advertising industry with some of the industry’s most influential agencies including Grey, JWT and BMP DDB. She has also worked client-side for Diageo as Effective Creative Excellence Director. Her experience covers a range of different sectors including FMCG, sport, government, food, health, beauty, finance & tech. As Chief Strategy Officer, Vicki led the creation of This Girl Can which redefined many of the conventions of how women are portrayed in advertising. It picked up over 50 industry awards, including 11 Cannes Lions, an IPA Effectiveness Award and the APG Creative Strategy Grand Prix. Vicki is the only person in the world to have won the APG Creative Strategy Grand Prix twice.
Vicki is Chair of the Account Planning Group and co-led the launch of the APG’s mental health initiative for the advertising industry – The Right to Disconnect. And she is also an active member of the IPA’s Talent Leadership Group, helping to drive more inclusivity across the advertising industry with the launch of the iList, in conjunction with Campaign and Unilever.
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Chris Macleod
Panel Member
Chris has wide-ranging experience in Marketing and Communications, and general management, having spent time in senior roles with both advertising agencies and clients.
Most recently, he was Director, Customer & Revenue, for Transport for London (TfL) one of the largest transport providers in the world.
With revenues of c£5bn (pre-COVID) it would rank high in the FTSE 100 if listed and Chris was responsible for customer strategy and all marketing activity. He was also responsible for commercial media revenues, including TfL’s outdoor advertising estate, the largest in the world, worth c£150m in the last pre-COVID year.
He helped TfL become a more customer focused organisation, establishing its ‘Every Journey matters’ promise and delivering a step change in customer service.
During his time at TfL, it won every major Marketing award including Campaign magazine’s Advertiser of the Year, Cannes Gold Lions and Marketing Society and IPA Effectiveness awards.
Before joining TfL, Chris worked at a number of leading agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi (twice) and Collett Dickenson Pearce, where he was chair. He now works in a number of consulting, teaching, and advisory roles, including as a non-executive director of Smart Energy GB.
Chris has a degree from Newcastle Business School, a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, and is a Fellow of both the Marketing Society (where he is a past chair) and the Marketing Academy.
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Andrew Mortimer
Panel member
Andrew is the co-leader of The Aperto Partnership, an independent, expert media consultancy that helps advertisers get the very best from their media investments and their media agencies.
Previously he spent eight years client-side as Director of Media in Sky’s sales and marketing team, with responsibility for the strategic planning and management of Sky’s above-the-line advertising budget, as well as the relationship with the media buying agencies and media partners. Andrew was a member of the ISBA Executive Committee for five years and regular speaker at industry conferences on topics such as the role of media specialists within advertiser organisations, client-agency relationships and media transparency. He started his advertising career in 1996 in the media department at Saatchi & Saatchi, and worked at Vizeum in 2000 and Manning Gottlieb before moving to the client-side at Sky.
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Nik Speller
Panel member
Nik has worked in influencer marketing for the past 5 years, having started his career as a freelancer, before moving to work for Havas, then ShopStyle, and finally to Influencer, where he is Head of Client Services.
During his career, Nik had developed a particular interest in the development of influencer marketing, regulations, and influencer fraud. He has spoken widely on these topics at events and conferences around the world.
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Jessica Tamsedge
Panel member
Jessica was appointed UK CEO at Dentsu Creative in early 2023 with a remit to develop a thriving common culture and help steer the business forward on its mission to transform brands and businesses through the power of Modern Creativity. Jessica will also work closely in partnership with the wider dentsu team in media and CXM in delivering scaled world class solutions to clients.
Jessica has responsibility for 400 people across Dentsu Creative’s UK centres of excellence in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Newcastle, and its full capabilities in Experience, Brand Transformation, Entertainment and Earned Attention.
Prior to joining Dentsu Creative, Jessica was Chief Client Officer for McCann, Europe & UK, responsible for driving growth for clients’ businesses by helping their brands earn their meaningful role in people’s lives.
Jessica started her career working with the UK Government on behaviour change assignments related to public health, safety and welfare. She was later seconded to the Olympic Delivery Authority’s to lead marketing for The 2012 Games Travel Demand Management Programme. She joined WPP to lead the global GSK Corporate Business, rebuilding the company’s reputation around sustainable healthcare commitments. She went on to lead Microsoft and Reckitt for IPG in EMEA.
Jessica takes a passionate and active role in promoting positive change in the marketing industry. She sits on the UK’s IPA Council and the Industry Advisory Panel to the Advertising Standards Authority, offering a perspective on how to uphold industry regulation in a way that is both fair and progressive. Jessica is also a WACL and NABS 100 member, mentoring diverse talent from across the industry. A former member of WPP’s DE&I Employee Advisory Board and now driving Worldgroup’s Day for Meaning programme globally, she remains committed to building a workplace culture of inclusion.
Jessica is mum to two young and extremely active boys who keep her very busy outside of work.
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Steve Taylor
Panel member
As Creative Commercial Director of Bauer Media's radio division, Steve works with commercial and programming teams generating ideas and inspiring clients to use radio.
Steve Taylor began his radio career in 1986 as Promotions Manager for Invicta Radio, a station in Kent. After six years he was approached by The Metro Radio Group to head up Sponsorship & Promotions at Viking FM.
Steve moved to London in 1994 to join Virgin Radio. In his position as Promotions Director, he successfully executed over four hundred promotions and was responsible for attracting a number of new blue chip clients to radio.
In 1998 he headed overseas fulfilling a lifelong ambition to travel. Whilst in Australia, he was offered a six-month contract setting up a National S&P Department for the Australian Radio Network. His role involved identifying common themes in programming across 17 stations and developing network opportunities for national clients.
Returning to the UK he re-joined Virgin Radio. As Group Enterprises Director, he headed up Promotions, Sponsorship, Client Sales, Commercial Marketing, PR and Digital and was subsequently promoted to Station Manager.
In 2005 Steve was approached to join Bauer Media. As Creative Commercial Director of their radio division, he works with commercial and programming teams generating ideas and inspiring clients to use radio.
He has also consulted for radio stations in Thailand, Ireland, India and South Africa.
Steve’s accolades in radio include two Sony Gold Awards in the ‘best on-air contest’ category and over twenty promotions awards including Promax, Media Week Awards, Campaign Awards, New York Festivals and The Institute of Sales Promotions Awards. He is also a fellow of the Radio Academy.
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Stephen Vowles
Panel member
Stephen was Chief Marketing Officer of Barclays UK, having joined Barclays in April 2018. He was responsible for all marketing strategy and delivery across both the consumer and small business facing Barclays and consumer facing Barclaycard brands in the UK.
Prior to Barclays, Stephen served as Marketing Director of Argos and the Sainsbury's Argos from 2013 until 2016. In that role he was responsible for marketing, own brand, brand and customer strategy, consumer insight and analytics across all touch points. Stephen joined Argos from Ladbrokes plc, where he was Customer Experience Director and chief marketeer, responsible for building a group marketing function around traditional and digital channels, whilst driving compelling customer strategy and vision for the brand.
Prior to Ladbrokes, he spent six years in the United States with Stop and Shop / Giant, the largest supermarket in the Mid-Atlantic and North East. As chief marketer he led a major multi-year re-brand and re-positioning strategy and also ran their own brand business. Stephen was responsible for co-conceiving and launching Nectar in 2002 in his role at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets and previously held senior marketing roles at Thomas Cook Retail and Procter and Gamble.
Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel
The Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel advises CAP on promotional marketing and direct marketing matters.
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Catherine Shuttleworth
Chair
Catherine is the Founder and CEO of Savvy Marketing. She founded Savvy in 2006 and has grown the business to become a leading award winning agency. The company of 80+ people works with a broad base of clients both in the UK and globally.
After graduating with a degree in retail marketing, Catherine has focused her career in the retail marketing space working in both client and agency organisations.
As an active member of both the Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM) and the The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD), Catherine is a well-established expert in shopper marketing. She’s also a regular spokesperson for retail news stories and debates on high profile programmes including BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours, and amongst the retail and marketing trade press. -
Shahriar Coupal
Director of Advertising Policy and Practice
As Director of Advertising Policy and Practice, Shahriar oversees the organisation’s Regulatory Policy, Copy Advice and Compliance functions.
As Director for the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), Shahriar is responsible for the effective running of committee business, which includes updating the UK Advertising Codes and associated guidance. He also oversees the effective running of the various CAP Panels and the independent Advertising Advisory Committee.
Shahriar previously worked at Ofcom. He studied Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury and Economics at Birkbeck.
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Nick Hudson
Compliance Manager
Nick heads up the Compliance or enforcement function of the ASA and CAP, which helps to create a level playing field for advertisers; both through ensuring the findings of upheld ASA rulings are implemented by those affected and through proactive, own-initiative work such as surveying trends across different sectors and issuing Enforcement Notices to whole sectors in need of a change of approach.
Nick is a member of the UK government’s Consumer Protection Partnership Operational Group. He is also Secretary to the Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel. With an LLB in Business Law, Nick started his working life in advertising, working in several ad agencies in the account handling department.
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Peter Batchelor
Panel member
Peter currently leads the retail strategy function at VMLY&R Commerce in London, for a mix of UK and global client businesses and is the longest serving member of the panel having joined it in 1999.
Peter has been involved in marketing communications and strategic creative ideas for over 30 years, having graduated with a degree in business and a CiM Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing. Starting off in data driven and direct marketing at many of the UK’s largest and most iconic agencies including EHS, Brann and Carlson. His more recent roles have seen him working with many iconic consumer brands across retail, CRM, digital and eCommerce businesses at Leo Burnett, J. Walter Thompson, WRCS, Engine and Arc.
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Mark Challinor
Panel member
Mark is Executive Producer and Advertising Initiative Lead for the International News Media Association www.inma.org the world’s leading networking body for news publishers). In the first role, he is responsible for the interactive programme (webinars, masterclasses etc) and with the second, he leads a deep dive into the commercial future of advertising on behalf of global media. He is also former global president for the Association.
Formerly, Director of Mobile Platforms at Telegraph Media Group, London were he was responsible for all mobile/tablet services and apps for one of the world’s major media groups.
Prior to The Telegraph, Mark has had over 20 years in newspapers and media, holding senior commercial roles at The Mirror, Daily Mail and London Evening Standard where he led the promotional offerings. In that capacity, Mark introduced the concepts of Fantasy Football and the promotional "free" cs/dvd to UK newspapers.
He is a regular speaker at media conferences around the globe and is a former regional president for The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
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Michael Halstead
Panel member
Mike is a founder and managing director of HH&S Group. Formed in 1987 HH&S is a promotional agency with strong publishing credentials. In 2007 HH&S branched out to additionally provide publishing subscriptions fulfilment services alongside the existing promotional offering. Today HH&S manages subscriptions for over 400 UK national and regional newspapers, the largest UK independent provider of newspaper subscriptions fulfilment and marketing services.
Over the last 30yrs Mike was an original board member of the Sales Promotion Consultants Association, the Marketing Communications Consultants Association, the Marketing Agencies Association and involved in the establishment of the Alliance of Independent Agencies.
In addition, Mike is a Director of James Halstead Plc an AIM listed worldwide flooring manufacturer and distributor. Stable Events Limited who operate/own the Game Fair, Scottish Game Fair, Welsh Game Fair, other Field Sports events and publishing interests. Poems Limited who provide medical courses on child anxiety and Mike is also a Trustee of the Royal Thames YC Charitable Trust.
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Chris McCash
Panel Member
Chris is a Planning Director with over 20 years experience in shopper and promotional marketing.
Part of the start up team for Savvy Marketing in 2006, Chris continues to work with Savvy Clients including Pernod Ricard, Mars and AB Inbev. A sales promotion practitioner as much as a planner, highlights include being on the original J2O launch team, multiple on packs for Mars plus numerous promotional projects for Asda. Latterly his work has included TV advertising in the pet and travel sectors.
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Mani Roberts
Panel Member ( IPM )
Mani is Regulatory Affairs Manager at the Institute of Promotional Marketing (IPM) where he manages the organisation’s legal advisory service.
He provides compliance and regulatory guidance to IPM members including reviewing terms for a broad range of UK promotional activity. He also manages the IPM’s international service offering advice for promotions taking place in Europe. Mani has over 15 years’ experience working with the CAP and BCAP Codes developed both commercially and with compliance bodies such as Clearcast. He has also worked for the BBC and the British Film Institute.
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Krystle Sargent
Independent member
Krystle has been a Barrister for more than 15 years and is the General Counsel and Deputy Director of Business Services at UK Sport, the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK. Prior to that she was at the Criminal Bar and has worked for OFGEM, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and the Serious Fraud Office.
Krystle has also been a Local Councillor and the Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Public Health at Enfield Council, a trustee for a mental health charity, a Management Board member of a pupil referral unit and a local authority school governor.
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Rupa Shah
Panel member
Rupa Shah is Founder and Director of Hashtag Ad Consulting, a London firm that provides workshops, audits and training on the advertising rules to social media and influencer marketers. Hashtag Ad Consulting takes a unique approach to demystifying advertising regulations across the globe and Rupa works closely with influencers, their managers, ad agencies, tech platforms and brand owners to embed compliance throughout the marketing process and, ultimately, to help brands and influencer marketers protect their reputation.
Prior to founding Hashtag Ad, Rupa trained in law and worked at the ASA and CAP for 13 years, where she developed a keen understanding of the regulatory regime for advertising through her investigative, advisory and compliance roles.
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Carey Trevill
Panel member
Carey Trevill hails from a successful agency background with award-winning campaigns across broadcast and non-broadcast media for global brands. She is an experienced business owner which has included the M&A of her own business going on to manage the UK flagship for global agency group TLC Marketing Worldwide.
Swapping stages to work in trade and industry, she was Managing Director of The Institute of Promotional Marketing until 2018 which included a position on the Committee of Advertising Practice in the UK (CAP) examining the broadcast and non-broadcast advertising regulations in the UK.
Working with a wide variety of organisations through her consultancy Mission Element, she provides advice and support to organisations on marketing, promotion, change management and is currently contracted as CEO of the BPMA in 2020, working closely with their members to support their businesses during the unprecedented economic upheaval of the pandemic, industry standards and compliance, complying with the CAP Code. She is also working closely with Government teams and Ministers on the wider industry position for export; highlighting the needs of the sector and delivering joint initiatives to businesses supported by BEIS and DIT.
Advertising Advisory Committee
The Advertising Advisory Committee (AAC) is the independent consumer panel providing a consumer perspective on the policy work of CAP and BCAP, such as the drafting and interpretation of the UK Advertising Codes.
AAC members are independent of the advertising industry and are appointed following public advertisement:
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Sam Younger
Chair
Sam is Chair of the Consumers’ Association (Which?) and of the international development charity VSO. He was a member of the Council of the ASA from 2014-2020.
Previous roles include Managing Director of the BBC World Service, Chair of the Electoral Commission and Chief Executive of the Charity Commission.
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James Best
CAP Chairman
James was appointed Chair of CAP and BCAP in April 2011, after serving four years as an Industry Member on the ASA Council.
He worked for over 30 years in advertising, after joining BMP as a trainee in 1975. He was Chairman of the agency – then BMP DDB - from 1989 to 2000 and Chief People & Strategy Officer of DDB Worldwide before his retirement from the network in 2006.
James was Chairman of the UK Advertising Association from 1997 until 2002 and President of the European Association of Communication Agencies 2003-05, as well as a long-serving member of IPA Council. -
Rachel Childs
Committee Member
Rachel currently works as the English Lead for West Berkshire's Medical Tuition Service. Appointed to the ASA Council in May 2011.
She undertakes other regulatory roles with The Portman Group, IPSO and the Department for Transport. A former Junior School Headteacher, Rachel brings extensive experience of working with children and young people. During her last 20 years in education she has been a teacher, literacy adviser, head teacher, governor, examiner and child protection officer.
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Dr Michelle Goddard
Committee member
Dr Michelle Goddard is currently Data Protection Officer at the Financial Ombudsman Service. She previously served as Director of Policy and Standards at the Market Research Society and also as the European Research Federation’s Director of Policy and Communication responsible for strengthening the self-regulatory framework in the research and insights sector and embedding application of UK and EU data protection laws.
Michelle also sat as a member of the Legal Services Consumer Panel for 6 years and has significant experience in privacy and consumer market regulation gained in a range of academic, policy and enforcement roles. A non-practising barrister, Michelle has held several executive, consultancy and policy advisory positions including roles at Which?, Competition Commission and the statutory consumer body, Consumer Focus.
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Jess McBeath
Committee member
Jess McBeath is a specialist in online harms and digital citizenship, with a particular interest in online misinformation. Jess is a member of Ofcom's Advisory Committee for Scotland and Borders College Regional Board.
Her career spans the public, private and voluntary sectors and she has a degree in Linguistics & Artificial Intelligence and an MBA. Jess was awarded the NSPCC Childhood Champion Award as Schools Volunteer Scotland 2018.
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Martin Hart
Committee member
Martin is Assistant Director, Education at the General Medical Council. In this role he oversees the GMC’s responsibilities to promote high standards of basic medical education and training so that patients can be confident they will receive safe, high quality medical care.
He has overseen a number of reviews of GMC standards and outcomes for medical education and training and had a key role in the integration of the former Postgraduate Education and Training Board (PMETB) into the GMC in 2010. He currently leads the team responsible for the quality assurance of UK medical education and training.
Prior to joining the GMC he was Head of Commercial Policy at Ofcom, the regulator for the UK communication’s industries. Earlier in his career he worked for the Independent Television Commission, the BBC and ITV. He is a Fellow of the Royal Television Society (RTS).
He holds an MA (Hons) from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the University of Warwick.
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Craig Simmons
Committee Member
Craig is a specialist in consumer policy and regulation and has held senior roles at the Financial Conduct Authority, HM Treasury and the Money and Pensions Service. He now leads Clear Consultancy Services, a firm which provides bespoke consultancy on organisational strategy, stakeholder engagement, service design and policy making.
Craig brings particular experience in improving support for people in financial difficulty and for those in vulnerable circumstances. He was previously responsible for the debt advice and credit pillars of the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing and worked with hundreds of stakeholders in delivering the Breathing Space Scheme, the Consumer Credit Regime and the Standard Financial Statement.
Craig is also a Trustee of the Envia Charitable Trust and a Board Director of the Money Advice Liaison Group.
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Christine Forde
Committee Member
Christine is the Chief Executive of Solihull Action through Advocacy which is a charity that advocates for adults and young people with autism and learning disabilities. She qualified as a solicitor and has commercial expertise and experience of professional regulation including legal services, health, and education. She also has experience of transforming a broad range of services including ensuring that digital technologies are harnessed to provide improved customer service.
Christine is a Council member of Which? the UK’s consumer champion. Its aim is to protect consumers and make their lives simpler, fairer and safer. She is also a member of the National Serious Case Panel of the Football Association.
Her previous roles include Associate Director for Public Facing Services Transformation at the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, an adjudicator at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, a member of the Academy for Healthcare Science Regulation Council and legal chair of the Investigating Committee at the General Chiropractic Council.
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Mike O'Connor
Committee Member
Mike was Chief Executive of StepChange Debt Charity, the UK’s largest debt advice body and has held a number of other Chief Executive posts, including Consumer Focus, the statutory body which worked with governments, companies and not for profit bodies to help consumers get a fair deal. He was also Chief Executive at the Olympic Lottery Distributor and the Millennium Commission where he was responsible for an investment programme relating to major public infrastructure projects. He has also worked at a senior level in both Government and the voluntary sector. His early career was in the Department of Health, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.
Mike ran a campaigning organisation, the Coronary Prevention Group. Other jobs included Director for Developed Economies at Consumers International (formerly the International Organisation of Consumer Unions) which is an international federation of consumer bodies which campaigns for consumers’ rights across the world. He has degrees in natural and social science and he has sat on the boards of a number of voluntary organisations and for eight years he was a Trustee of the Mental Health Foundation. He is also a Trustee of the London Irish Centre Charity.
He received a CBE for Public Service in The Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List 2000 and he is a member of the Council of Fellows of Keele University.
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Nabila Zulfiqar
Committee Member
Nabila has an LLB (Hons) in Business Law and is a solicitor. She has experience of the governance and regulation of the legal profession, architects, teachers, press and healthcare scientists. She is the Chief Adjudicator at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA); the regulator of legal services in England and Wales.
In April 2013, Nabila was appointed by the Privy Council to the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and chaired its Investigation Oversight Committee. In March 2017, Nabila was elected as the Chair of ARB. She is a national chair of the Anti-Discrimination Panel for the Football Association and a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation Readers Panel. Nabila is a mentor for Mosaic, a charity founded by HRH The Prince of Wales, and is vice chair of its West Midlands Regional Leadership Group. Nabila was previously a member of the Academy for Healthcare Science Regulation Council.
Online Publications Media Panel
The Online Publications Media Panel advises CAP on the proper distinction between editorial and advertising in online publications. Current members are:
- Chairman, Asbof
- Chairman, The Regulatory Funding Company
Our Executive
The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP and BCAP) are supported in their work by the Advertising Policy and Practice department that sits within the overall structure of the ‘ASA system’ for UK advertising regulation. The team is responsible for code policy work, provision of pre-publication advice, on-going training for industry, writing and updating of Advertising guidance to help advertisers interpret the Codes, proactive monitoring of advertisements and, of course, a robust compliance function.
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Shahriar Coupal
Director of Advertising Policy and Practice
As Director of Advertising Policy and Practice, Shahriar oversees the organisation’s Regulatory Policy, Copy Advice and Compliance functions.
As Director for the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), Shahriar is responsible for the effective running of committee business, which includes updating the UK Advertising Codes and associated guidance. He also oversees the effective running of the various CAP Panels and the independent Advertising Advisory Committee.
Shahriar previously worked at Ofcom. He studied Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury and Economics at Birkbeck.
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Malcolm Phillips
Regulatory Policy Manager
Malcolm took over as manager of the CAP Regulatory Policy team in 2009, which assists CAP and BCAP in ensuring the Advertising Codes remain relevant and fit for purpose, e.g. ensuring they're, where appropriate, responsive to changes in public policy and are consistent with the law.
The Regulatory Policy team has recently undertaken projects on TV scheduling, advertising of cosmetic interventions, and e-cigarette advertising. Malcolm did postgraduate work in English Literature before moving to London and joining the Advertising Standards Authority as an Investigations Executive, moving to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) in 2007.
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Nick Hudson
Compliance Manager
Nick heads up the Compliance or enforcement function of the ASA and CAP, which helps to create a level playing field for advertisers; both through ensuring the findings of upheld ASA rulings are implemented by those affected and through proactive, own-initiative work such as surveying trends across different sectors and issuing Enforcement Notices to whole sectors in need of a change of approach.
Nick is a member of the UK government’s Consumer Protection Partnership Operational Group. He is also Secretary to the Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel. With an LLB in Business Law, Nick started his working life in advertising, working in several ad agencies in the account handling department.
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Emma Smith
Copy Advice Manager
Emma took over as Operations Manager for Copy Advice in 2017. Her team provides advertisers, agencies and media owners with free and confidential advice, giving an informed view of the likely acceptability of non-broadcast marketing communications under the CAP Code.
Emma studied Law, specialising in Entertainment Law, at the University of Westminster before joining the ASA in 2011 as a Complaints Executive and becoming a Senior Complaints Executive in 2014. She moved to Copy Advice in 2015.