Graham Russell MBE
Biography
2007 - Graham was appointed to create the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) as a government agency tasked with implementing the ideas put forward in the Hampton Report.
2011 - In the Birthday Honours, Graham was awarded an MBE for services to business and consumers.
2012 - LBRO became the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO). As Chief Executive, Graham took the organisation into a new era, joining the civil service and taking responsibility for policy advice as well as delivery.
2016 - BRDO and the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) were combined to form Regulatory Delivery (RD), a directorate of the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, headed by Graham, to focus on regulation and enforcement. RD delivered Primary Authority, legal metrology and hallmarking policy, technical regulation and enforcement work.
2018 - The Office for Product Safety and Standards was created as a new national oversight body tasked with identifying consumer risks and managing responses to large-scale product recalls and repairs. Also taking forward the work and responsibilities of RD, the new Office is enabling the UK to meet the evolving challenges of product safety by responding to expanding international trade, the growth in online shopping and the increasing rate of product innovation.
Graham’s professional background is as a regulator in local government, and he understands the contribution that local authorities make to protection and growth in the local economy. His previous roles include Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety at Staffordshire County Council.
CEO, Office for Product Safety and Standards
Graham Russell is CEO of the Office for Product Safety and Standards and is responsible for building the capacity of the team to upgrade the UK’s product safety system and to improve the delivery of regulation in the UK. He co-chairs the International Network for Delivery of Regulation with Professor Chris Hodges of Oxford University and together they have written a book on the delivery of regulation with colleagues from around the world.