17/10/08 New director - Consumer Direct

David Fisher has been appointed Director for advice service Consumer Direct, replacing Christine Cryne who has left to become CEO at children's charity Brainwave.

David joined the OFT in 2001 as Corporate Services Director, a post he held for four years. In 2005, he helped develop OFT's response to recommendations in the Hampton Report before taking on the leadership of the OFT's Trading Standards Partnership team in 2006.

Prior to joining the OFT, David spent 11 years at the Competition Commission in a variety of roles and before that 12 years in New Zealand, with the competition authority and the Department of Trade and Industry. For six years, he was an independent member of the audit committee of the Office of Government Commerce.

Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service managed by the Office of Fair Trading and delivered in partnership with local authority Trading Standards Services. Last year, the service answered more than 1.5 million calls and emails from British consumers.

From October 2008, Consumer Direct expanded its role to provide impartial advice to energy and post customers as part of the changes introduced by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.


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