Fair, open, effective, shrewd and independent

Carol has over 20 years experience in delivering consumer services. Most recently she was Director for Service Improvement at the Local Better Regulation Office. Before that she was National Operations Manager for Consumer Direct and was a Trading Standards Manager in local authorities in Kent, Northamptonshire and Solihull.

She is a Fellow of the Trading Standards Institute.

Cerys a former solicitor qualified in 1981 and then gained experience in private practice, local government and the voluntary sector. After joining the Law Society in 1997, Cerys became Head of the Office of the Independent Commissioner, a role focused on Government reforms to legal services regulation. Cerys brings important knowledge of complaints and regulation to the Legal Ombudsman.
Cerys is also a lay member of the General Dental Council investigating committee. She has been a member of British & Irish Ombudsman Association since 2003.

A qualified barrister, Charlie was appointed as the inaugural Deputy Pensions Ombudsman in 2005 - dealing with complaints and disputes about occupational and personal pensions - a post he held for four and a half years. Prior to that, having spent many years as a senior Inspector of Taxes, he was head of the Adjudicator's Office for five and a half years, investigating complaints about the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise (now HMRC).

Susie is a solicitor and specialises in Regulation with a wealth of experience in change management and operational delivery in both the private and public sector. Susie joins us from the Equality and Human Rights Commission where she was their Director of Legal Enforcement. She has represented the Commission extensively and has been responsible for a number of high profile Inquiries, enforcement actions and Interventions including at the Supreme Court and the European Courts. Susie leads on Equality and Human Rights matters for the Legal Ombudsman.

Previously Susie was in private practice for 14 years, latterly as Head of Commercial litigation before joining Forensic Investigations at the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Susie was then instrumental in the set up of the Gambling Commission as their Head of Legal Enforcement.
Susie is an Editor of the Blackstone's Guide to the Equality Act 2010 and a member of the Regulatory Affairs Board of the Law Society of England and Wales.

John is an experienced investigator and customer services manager. Since 2005 he has been with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) first as a Deputy Senior Investigator and then managing casework and customer services. Most recently his role at IPCC focused on organisational planning and change management.
John studied Business at Leeds Metro University. Earlier in his career he investigated serious drugs importations and commercial fraud for the then HM Customs and Excise.

Silas is a solicitor (non-practising) with experience in the private and public sector. He is a dispute resolution specialist who has been involved in many high profile cases. He is workplace mediator trained by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.