The alcohol industry’s Independent Complaints Panel (ICP) is pleased to announce the appointment of three new Panel members.

Following a rigorous and highly competitive recruitment process, Karen Betts OBE, Matt Barwell and Richard Schofield have been appointed to the Panel and have attended their first meeting.

• Karen is the Chief Executive of the Food & Drink Federation and is a former CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association. Prior to that, she held several posts in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Cabinet Office. Before joining government, Karen was a lawyer. She has also been an Adviser to the Government’s Board of Trade. She received an OBE in 2022 for services to international trade.

• Matt has extensive experience working in marketing, corporate affairs and sustainability for three of the world’s leading FMCG businesses, Mars, Diageo and Britvic and currently serves as a board advisor for Accenture. He is a member of the ASA Council and a non-executive director for several private equity backed FMCG businesses.

• Richard is a senior civil servant and former Chief Planning Inspector for England, with considerable experience of chairing public inquiries. Richard is also an independent complaints assessor for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, is a Panel Chair for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and sits on the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Membership and Ethics Committee.

The Panel is chaired by Rachel Childs and new members are carefully recruited to represent a cross-section of society with a balance of experience and expertise in key areas such as licensing, public health, children’s services and law.

The ICP is independent from the Portman Group and considers complaints brought forward on the naming, packaging, promotion and sponsorship of alcoholic drinks based on the Portman Group’s Codes of Practice. The Panel meets several times a year to consider these complaints and decide whether they are upheld or not upheld based on evidence.

Rachel Childs, Chair of the Independent Complaints Panel said: “It is a real pleasure to be able to welcome three new members to the Panel. Karen, Matt and Richard bring a wealth of experience which will strengthen Panel decision-making and keep producers working within the Portman Group’s Codes of Practice. The Code rules against which the Panel makes its decisions are varied and the complaints we see can be complex; it is therefore vital that Panel members are experienced and balanced in their views and I look forward to working with these new members.

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing Panel members, Hina Parmar and Amanda Orchard, for their hard work and expertise over the course of their terms”

For more information contact: katie.coakes@portmangroup.org.uk

1. The Portman Group was formed in 1989. It is the alcohol industry regulator and social responsibility body. It has over 170 Code signatories from producers, retailers and membership bodies.

2. The Portman Group is funded by 22 member and associate member companies: Asahi UK Ltd, Aston Manor Cider, Bacardi, Suntory Global, Brown-Forman, Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I, Campari, C&C, Coca-Cola GB, Damm UK, Diageo GB, Edrington UK, Heineken UK, Lucky Saint, Mark Anthony Brands International, Mast-Jäegermeister UK, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Pernod Ricard UK, Punch Pubs & Co, SHS Drinks, Thatchers, and Treasury Wine Estates.

3. The Code of Practice for the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks was first published in 1996. In 2021, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Code. The Code seeks to ensure that alcohol is promoted in a socially responsible way, only to those aged 18 and over, and in a way that does not appeal particularly to those who are vulnerable. The Code has helped create an industry that works effectively within the context of a self-regulatory model, while encouraging design, innovation and creativity. This has been done in an effective, responsive and inexpensive way.

• Effectively – over 170 products have been amended or removed from the market. Many hundreds more have been helped to adhere to the Code before appearing on shelves through the support of the Advisory Service;

• Responsively – there have been five updates to the Code over 25 years responding to changes in public attitudes and expanding its reach; all without recourse to Government or Parliamentary time;

• Inexpensively – the leading members of the industry are currently funding the model for all to be protected at no cost to the public purse.

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