Membership of the UK-wide Food Hygiene Ratings Steering Group

Steven Esom joined Langholm Capital, a consumer sector focused Private Equity Fund, in July 2009. His background is in the food industry, latterly at Marks & Spencer which he joined in June 2007 as Food Director, being made Executive Director in March 2008 and before that as Managing Director of Waitrose since 2003, having joined the Partnership as Waitrose’s Director of Buying in 1996. He was also a Non Executive Director of Ocado. Until 2003, Steven spent most of his career at Sainsbury’s, including a period with its US subsidiary Shaws, based in Boston. He became a Non Executive Director of Carphone Warehouse in September 2005. Currently he is a Non-executive Director of Cranswick plc and Tyrrells Potato Chips and is Chairman of Bart Spices. Steven joined the Board of BRC Trading in April 2011.

Sarah Appleby has been with the FSA since it was formed in 2000 and is currently head of the Food Safety: Implementation and Delivery Division. Previously, she headed the Imported Food Division which delivered the “Step Change” project on imported food controls. Before joining the Agency, Sarah was with the Department of Health where she was involved with the implementation of EU product specific hygiene directives and the Imported Food Regulations. Sarah also has many years of environmental health experience working at Greenwich and Ealing local authorities. She was appointed as head of profession for environmental health at the FSA in 2008.

Derek Bodey joined the Steering Group in January 2012. He has recently retired as a Principal of a Sixth Form College. Mr Bodey has been a Board Member of the Association of Colleges and is currently a Council Member of the Association of School and College Leaders. His career within education has given him wide experience of committee work, risk assessment and decision making processes. Mr Bodey has for many years had an interest in and commitment to issues of Fairtrade and Trade Justice. Among his charitable interests, he is treasurer of his local Christian Aid committee. Mr Bodey is also a member of the Committee on Toxicity and the FSA’s Consumer Advisory Panel.

Liz Withers is Head of Policy at Consumer Focus Wales, responsible for leading the work of the policy team and delivering on our work programme. Liz previously worked for the National Autistic Society as Policy and Public Affairs Officer for four years. Prior to this she worked for an ethnic minority women’s organisation and a Member of Parliament. She has a strong interest in equality and has a MSc in Equality and Diversity. She was, until recently a member of the Wales Committee of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She leads on food safety policy work at Consumer Focus Wales. She has severe and multiple food allergies..

John Dyson was appointed food and technical affairs adviser to the British Hospitality Association (BHA) in September 2003. He advises the BHA on all matters relating to food safety, environment, fire and health and safety. Prior to this John was managing director of Safegard, the environmental health and safety division of Sodexho UK. He is managing director of his own company, COCOMS Ltd, and sits on expert Committees for two European Trade Associations, FERCO and HOTREC. John is a qualified environmental health officer and his last position in local government was in York.

Andrew Opie is director of food policy at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade association for retailers, whose members account for 80% of grocery sales in the UK. Andrew covers all food policy issues in the UK and Europe, from supplier relationships to food labelling and composition. He represents retailers at stakeholder meetings, recently covering issues such as the Food Matters Report, developing a food vision with Defra and working with the Scottish Government on its food strategy.

Rita King joined the British Beer & Pub Association in 1996 as Deputy Director (Pub & Leisure) where she works with the Pub & Leisure team on analysing the impact of national and European legislative and regulatory proposals affecting the public house sector. She has been closely involved in lobbying on licensing law reform, gambling law reform and smoking and has responsibility for corporate social responsibility issues, food issues and music tariffs.

Susie Child works for the Regulatory Support Unit (RSU) of the LGA, which is covering a small number of the work areas previously supported by the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS). She worked in the LACORS food and animal health team from 2006 to 2011. For the RSU, Susie assists in the distribution of information and advice and the sharing of good practice, relating to certain local authrority regulatory service areas, including food, and provides the secretariat for a Food Forum of local authority advisers. Susie also represents local authorities at key meetings and discussions with the FSA, on significant issues. Before joining LACORS and the RSU, she worked at a local authority and also reviewed local authority election arrangements.

Jenny Morris leads on food policy issues at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the professional, awarding and campaigning body at the forefront of environmental and public health and safety in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Jenny is a member of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food and is currently the secretary to the European Food Law Enforcement Practitioners Forum (FLEP).

Sheila Davison is a chartered environmental health practitioner with over 20 years of environmental health experience. She is currently an environmental health manager for Ashford Borough Council, having previously worked for the London Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Sheila is an advisor to the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) and served for a number of years on the LACORS Food Policy Forum.

Jim Dixon is an environmental health officer with over 28 years of environmental health experience and has been food/health and safety manager at Perth and Kinross Council since 1995. Jim was a core group member of the Scottish Executive/Food Standards Agency (Scotland) E. Coli Task Force. He has held the post of Honorary Secretary of the Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee since it’s inception in 2002 and currently chairs the East of Scotland Food Liaison Group.

Neil Underwood is currently manager of the Food Safety Section at Wrexham Council and has been with the Council since 1990 (having previously worked for North East Derbyshire and Alyn and Deeside District Councils)..He has been a member of the Welsh Food Safety Management Steering Group since its inception in 2005, and in 2006 helped develop an independent six-tier food hygiene star rating scheme for Wrexham County Borough Council.

Fiona McClements currently works in Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council in Northern Ireland as the Deputy Director of Environmental Health. She graduated from the University of Ulster with a BSc and an MSc in Environmental Health. Fiona represents the Northern Ireland Chief Environmental Health Officers Group on the Steering Group.

Catriona Stewart – Food Standards Agency
Emily Davis – Food Standards Agency