Alumni
Alumni profile asimpson
University of West London Alumni e-Newsletter Autumn Edition
Alumni Profile: Adrian Simpson (Class of ‘04)
Now 28 Adrian first graduated from University of West London in 2004 after reading New Media Journalism with Sound and Music Recording. Now married to wife Laura and with a son, Riley, who is 18 months old Adrian is now based in Chatham, Kent after living in Boston Manor for most of his University of West London years.
As Lead Officer Without Portfolio for the Trading Standards Institute and Trading Standards Enforcement Officer for a London Council Adrian shares the journey of his career so far since leaving University of West London.
I'm quite often asked why and how someone with a media based degree has ended up with a career in Trading Standards. There are of course many differences between the two but also some similarities such as communicating with different audiences and getting messages out there, and I've been able to use these skills learnt during my degree.
In 2005 a year after my graduation I was temping in Kent County Council and I saw an advert for a new consumer advice helpline called 'Consumer Direct'. After a very quick telephone interview and a formal sit-down interview, I was offered the job.
During my time there I helped to monitor the website as well as hear every sort of consumer problem you can think off. One particularly memorable call I received was from a disgruntled husband complaining that his wife was having an affair with the local baker. He was more concerned about the health and safety of the sausage rolls rather than his obvious marital strife.
After two and a half years there I applied for a job at the brand new UK European Consumer Centre at the Trading Standards Institute in Basildon. This was a great move and I got to go and visit such diverse areas of culture as Brussels, Lisbon and Birmingham. One of the highlights was a three day lobbying and public relations course with 24 other people from European Union countries. I got to use the lobbying recently (more of that later).
It was whilst working at the Institute that I started working on consumer advice leaflets; these are now used by almost every single Trading Standards Authority in the country. I also got to put in practice my degree by writing press releases on topics such as air passenger rights and mis-described jewellery. My first of many articles regarding trading standards was published in the industry organ TS Today which enjoys a small but loyal readership of 4000 trading standards professionals.
As much as I was enjoying my time advising consumers and writing advice pieces I wanted to get into a local authority and work with consumer advice issues 'on the ground'. In July 2008 I applied for a job in trading standards for a London Borough, I was lucky to get this and began in October 2008. A vacancy then came up for the Trading Standards Institutes Lead Officer Without Portfolio. This was a voluntary role but meant that if successful I would effectively be a spokesperson for my profession and have to be very careful about what I say! I was very happy to get the message in 2009 to say that I had got the role.
It wasn't long before I had to deal with media requests. My very first one was for BBC Radio Sheffield where I had to talk about Rogue Traders live on the air. It was nerve racking but very exciting. Since then I have been on BBC News 24 about five times and sat on the GMTV sofa and been at the BBC Breakfast Bar, both times I was 'grilled' as to why trading standards hadn't been effective in dealing with cold-callers!
Some weeks I work seven days but I always make sure that I spend time with my family and that I get away from hearing about consumer protection and business compliance for at least a few hours!
I find my career exciting and even in these challenging times I know that we will have to look at new ways of doing things up against reduced public spending and high consumer expectations. In the future I'm looking to do more work with local businesses and help them work with their commitment to fair trading. I recently attended the Comprehensive Spending Review and have been working with my local MP on the issue of bogus charity bags.
Alumni Profile: Adrian Simpson (Class of ‘04)
Now 28 Adrian first graduated from University of West London in 2004 after reading New Media Journalism with Sound and Music Recording. Now married to wife Laura and with a son, Riley, who is 18 months old Adrian is now based in Chatham, Kent after living in Boston Manor for most of his University of West London years.
As Lead Officer Without Portfolio for the Trading Standards Institute and Trading Standards Enforcement Officer for a London Council Adrian shares the journey of his career so far since leaving University of West London.
I'm quite often asked why and how someone with a media based degree has ended up with a career in Trading Standards. There are of course many differences between the two but also some similarities such as communicating with different audiences and getting messages out there, and I've been able to use these skills learnt during my degree.
In 2005 a year after my graduation I was temping in Kent County Council and I saw an advert for a new consumer advice helpline called 'Consumer Direct'. After a very quick telephone interview and a formal sit-down interview, I was offered the job.
During my time there I helped to monitor the website as well as hear every sort of consumer problem you can think off. One particularly memorable call I received was from a disgruntled husband complaining that his wife was having an affair with the local baker. He was more concerned about the health and safety of the sausage rolls rather than his obvious marital strife.
After two and a half years there I applied for a job at the brand new UK European Consumer Centre at the Trading Standards Institute in Basildon. This was a great move and I got to go and visit such diverse areas of culture as Brussels, Lisbon and Birmingham. One of the highlights was a three day lobbying and public relations course with 24 other people from European Union countries. I got to use the lobbying recently (more of that later).
It was whilst working at the Institute that I started working on consumer advice leaflets; these are now used by almost every single Trading Standards Authority in the country. I also got to put in practice my degree by writing press releases on topics such as air passenger rights and mis-described jewellery. My first of many articles regarding trading standards was published in the industry organ TS Today which enjoys a small but loyal readership of 4000 trading standards professionals.
As much as I was enjoying my time advising consumers and writing advice pieces I wanted to get into a local authority and work with consumer advice issues 'on the ground'. In July 2008 I applied for a job in trading standards for a London Borough, I was lucky to get this and began in October 2008. A vacancy then came up for the Trading Standards Institutes Lead Officer Without Portfolio. This was a voluntary role but meant that if successful I would effectively be a spokesperson for my profession and have to be very careful about what I say! I was very happy to get the message in 2009 to say that I had got the role.
It wasn't long before I had to deal with media requests. My very first one was for BBC Radio Sheffield where I had to talk about Rogue Traders live on the air. It was nerve racking but very exciting. Since then I have been on BBC News 24 about five times and sat on the GMTV sofa and been at the BBC Breakfast Bar, both times I was 'grilled' as to why trading standards hadn't been effective in dealing with cold-callers!
Some weeks I work seven days but I always make sure that I spend time with my family and that I get away from hearing about consumer protection and business compliance for at least a few hours!
I find my career exciting and even in these challenging times I know that we will have to look at new ways of doing things up against reduced public spending and high consumer expectations. In the future I'm looking to do more work with local businesses and help them work with their commitment to fair trading. I recently attended the Comprehensive Spending Review and have been working with my local MP on the issue of bogus charity bags.
Adrian Simpson outside Parliament
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