Kay Blair

What she does outside the Panel

As well as being Vice Chair of the Consumer Panel, Kay runs her own marketing and communications consultancy, Business Perceptions, which helps clients in a variety of organisations throughout the UK improve business performance through more effective marketing and communications. She is a non-executive director of NHS24 – the Scottish Equivalent of NHS Direct – and a non-executive on the court of the University of St Andrews, her alma mater. Kay is also chair of the Scottish Housing Regulator and a consumer representative on EIOPA's Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group.

Positions held in the past

A former business journalist, Kay started her career at the Financial Times in London. When she moved to Scotland she wrote extensively on business – she had a weekly marketing column in The Scotsman for over ten years and was deputy editor of Scottish Business Insider. As well as journalism and communications consultancy, Kay has also been a member of the Scottish Consumer Council, a non-executive director of the Scottish Ambulance Service and the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Scottish independent council member on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. She is now an Honorary Member of that society.

Reasons for joining the Panel

Kay is very keen to get a better deal for the public – whether as patients of the health service, consumers of public services or customers of financial institutions.

She joined the Panel because she saw it as an excellent opportunity to influence the FSA and to achieve better outcomes for consumers. As a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, she has always championed the cause of customers. Having worked extensively with clients in the financial services sector – most notably in asset management, offshore services, retail banking, investment consultancy and pension provision – she also had first-hand knowledge of the industry, so felt she would be able to challenge it intelligently. Kay believes there is significant consumer detriment in the financial services industry, so much needs to change and improve.

Areas of particular interest on the Panel

Kay is interested in all areas the Panel covers. Her particular and current areas of interest, however, are the Retail Distribution Review, Mortgage Market Review, Treating Customers Fairly, consumer responsibility and effective communications.

Photographs

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