About Us
Chair and Chief Executive
Christine Farnish – Chair
Christine took on the position of Chair on 1 December 2010.
Christine has served on the Consumer Focus Board since it began. She has been Consumer Affairs Director at both OFTEL and the Financial Services Authority and has also held senior management roles in local government. She has served on the Boards of both the Office of Fair Trading and the Advertising Standards Authority. Christine also used to work on public policy for Barclays
She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the Association of British Travel Agents Board and Chairs the Family and Parenting Institute.
Mike O’Connor – Chief Executive
Mike has held Chief Executive roles at the Olympic Lottery Distributor and the Millennium Commission. Mike was responsible for an investment programme totalling more than £4,000 million covering major public infrastructure projects including those in arts and sport. He has also worked at a senior level in both Government and the voluntary sector. His early career was in the Department of Health, HM Treasury and Cabinet Office. Posts in the Civil service included Private Secretary to the Minister of Health. His duties ranged from general policy development to negotiating on European Community Directives.
He has also been the Director of a campaigning organisation, the Coronary Prevention Group. Other jobs included Director for Developed Economies at Consumers International (formerly the International Organisation of Consumer Unions) which is an international federation of consumer bodies which campaigns for consumers’ rights across the world. He has degrees in natural and social science and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has sat on the boards of a number of voluntary organisations and for the last eight years he was Hon Treasurer the Mental Health Foundation.
He has degrees in natural and social science. He received a CBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List 2000.
December 2010
