Meet The Team
Meet our team of experienced legal advisers and consultants
Meet our team of experienced legal advisers and consultants
As ex-enforcement officers we will give you the insiders perspective on any regulatory issues. Our advice is practical, reliable and accurate.
Wendy Potts specialises in non-food and civil law matters. Her initial experience was obtained in the Trading Standards Service, which she entered as a graduate. She held posts in West Sussex and Leicestershire County Councils, obtaining a Diploma in Consumer Affairs in 1991.
Wendy joined in April 2001, a provider of specialist legal advice and support to the retail sector, consumer product and service industries and upon Roland Rowell’s retirement in July 2008, she took over the business. She advises clients on trading law on a daily basis and has been a checked expert witness listed in the Law Society Directory of Expert Witnesses since its inception in 1996. She has over 25 years experience of working in the field of trading standards and consumer protection.
After 20 years experience with two leading consultancies Wendy is well known as a consultant, particularly in the non-food retail sector. She has worked with the marketing departments, and provided legal advice to, many major retailers (including Tesco, Boots, Asda, Halfords, DFS) for over 18 years during the changing legal regimes that have affected retailers especially in the field of pricing.
Her experience is complemented by a six-month secondment as a non-food technologist to the leading supermarket chain ASDA, two five-month secondments as Trading Standards Manager at the fashion retailer TKMaxx and returning to ASDA as Trading Law Manager for three months in 2008. She has acted as Trading Standards Manager for The Clothes Show since 2004.
Wendy is Chair of the Business Members Group of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. She is also a trainer and auditor for the Institute and is a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner. She assists in the drafting of business guidance including the Pricing Practices Guide.
Jane Hancock is a consultant specialising in consumer law and quality systems. Following graduation from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1983, Jane started her career in trading standards when she joined West Midlands County Council. She qualified as a Trading Standards Officer, obtaining the Diploma in Trading Standards in 1987.
Jane subsequently held posts with Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council. Jane joined LawLabs, a specialist company providing legal, technical and analytical services in 1989 where she was responsible for the Advisory Services Division. During her time at Lawlabs, Jane was responsible for supporting clients on a full range of consumer protection law and related legislation.
Jane started working on a freelance basis in 2000, continuing consulting work in the areas of trading standards, including advice on both food and non-food product labelling and legality, quality systems development and validation along with legal, technical and due diligence work.
Jane holds the IOSH Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health and holds the QA qualification as lead assessor. She has over 30 years experience of trading and consumer law.
Jane has written various articles in trade and professional journals, including a chapter in the Gower Handbook of Marketing. Her book ‘Regulating the Sale of Property – Property Misdescriptions, estate Agency and Timeshare’ (with Roland Rowell) has been well received.
Alison is a consultant specialising in Trading Standards and Consumer Protection Legislation. She started her career in 1991 as a General Assistant with the Trading Standards Department of Berkshire County Council. Soon after she became a trainee Trading Standards Officer and qualified with a Diploma in Trading Standards in 1995, becoming a Senior Trading Standards Officer within 2 years.
She holds the QA qualification as Lead Assessor. After local government reorganisation in 1998, Alison moved to Reading Borough Council where she continued to work as a Trading Standards Officer for the next 6 years. In that time, she gained substantial experience with both the inspections and complaints teams, ultimately with responsibility for a number of home authority companies. She was the lead officer for safety and underage sales.
Alison started work as a consultant in 2005, after a family move to Essex.
She advises on Trading Standards matters particularly in relation to product labelling and compliance of both food and non-food products. She has provided advice and updates for a leading legal reference service on new and existing Trading Standards legislation. Over more recent years, Alison has provided food labelling advice for an international company importing food items from America to ensure compliance with the UK market and is providing regular guidance on the new European Food Information Regulation to businesses. Alison is a member of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and has a total of over 24 years experience of trading and consumer law.
Paul has thirty years experience in the field of Trading Standards, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
Starting his career as a Trainee Trading Standards Officer in Hampshire, he achieved the Diploma in Trading Standards in 1987 and served as a Trading Standards Officer until 1995 when he became a retail consultant at SGS Ltd. In 1997 Paul moved into the retail sector joining the catalogue retailer Argos, which over the subsequent years evolved into Home Retail Group, incorporating Homebase and Habitat, both retail stores and the associated ecommerce offerings.
Paul left Home Retail Group to become a consultant in Summer 2015 and has since provided assistance and advice to a variety of organisations on trading standards, consumer affairs and regulatory matters.
During his time in retail Paul was the Chairman of the Consumer Policy Group at the British Retail Consortium and has achieved the coveted Trading Standards Practitioner Status.
Paul has developed a specific expertise in relation to Consumer Rights, Pricing, Product Safety, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Better Regulation (in particular earned recognition through Primary Authority). He is a competent and enthusiastic trainer.