Council Members

Mary Chapman is a Chartered Director who, since 2008, has served as a non-executive board member for public organistions including the Royal Mint Ltd, the National Lottery Commission, the Gambling Commission, Near Neighbours and Brunel University London. She chaired the Institute of Customer Service from 2009-15 and was a trustee of the Girl’s Day School Trust for 10 years. She was recently a member and the Audit Committee Chair at the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. She was also a member of West London Health Research Ethics Committee.

Mary is currently a non-executive Board Member at the Insolvency Service and a Trustee at the British Tourist Boards Pension and Life Assurance Scheme.

Mary holds a BA (Hons) in French and German from Bristol University; an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University; the diploma of the Chartered Institute of Marketing; a diploma in Business Management from the Centre Europeen d’Etudes Permanents; and the diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.

Mary was Chief Executive of the Chartered Management Institute and Chair of CMI Enterprises from 1998-2008; Chief Executive of Investors in People UK between 1993-98 and Marketing Director/Personnel Director/General Manager of companies within the L’OREAL Group for twelve years up to 1993.

Register of interests

Jennie graduated from Southampton University with a first class degree in Economics in 1984. Her early career was as an investment analyst and fund manager within the UK Equity market where she worked for a number of large institutional investors including Abbey Life and Aviva.

After moving to Yorkshire with a young family in 1995 her work has centred on corporate governance roles within the private and public sector with a focus on addressing economic, health and social inequalities in the region. She has been a director of Finance Yorkshire since it was created in 2009 in order to provide funding for small and medium sized businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber. She was a non-executive director at York Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for 8 years where she developed her knowledge of healthcare regulation and patient safety. She has recently been appointed as a member of the Governing Body of York St John University and chair of its Audit Committee.

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Elisabeth Angier graduated from University of Surrey in 2000 and has been in full-time private practice since. She has worked around the UK, and now runs her own clinic in Herefordshire. Before joining the GCC Council as a registrant member, Elisabeth has worked with the GCC as a Chair/Assessor for the GCC Test of Competence Committee and was a GCC Visiting Education Assessor. She is a visiting Clinical Supervisor at the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic, University of South Wales. Elisabeth is Chair of the Chiropractic Research Council, a UK based charitable organisation that aims to promote research and support researchers for the benefit of UK chiropractic patients.

She is a Fellow of the British Chiropractic Association and served on the BCA Council and Executive Council 2011 – 2016. She is a member of the Royal College of Chiropractors, and was on the steering committee of the Public Health Society.

In her spare time, Elisabeth can be found on and off the water at the Ross Rowing Club where she chairs the Fundraising Committee and as Regatta Secretary, organises the annual regatta. She is a keen walker and runner and has completed several marathons/half-marathons.

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Fergus Devitt is Managing Director of Rockpool Insights Ltd, his own business consultancy which was established in autumn 2018 to create stronger organisations and communities. Prior to that he had held a number of Director level posts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, including Director of Active Communities in the Department for Communities. He is an Associate Consultant with the Leadership Centre for Health and Social Care in Belfast and also an Associate Consultant with Clarendon Executive.

Fergus is an experienced programme and project manager, a trained Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) and an accredited High Risk GatewayTM Reviewer.  He has delivered successful business and organisational transformation projects and was SRO for an award nominated digital transformation project.  He has significant experience of senior level recruitment, governance and Board effectiveness. He is able to make connections within, across and between organisations to strengthen those organisations, communities and individuals.

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Steven Gould is a specialist in regulation, consumer protection and strategic policy development. Having led the regulatory function of RICS – the world’s leading built environment professional body – for 14 years, Steven retired from full time employment in 2014. Before joining RICS, he had previously worked for Which? and also in government. He is currently a Trustee of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme - a charity responsible for standards, public protection and education in domestic renewable energy. His previous non-executive roles include membership of the government’s Better Regulation Commission, Director of Ombudsman Services Ltd, and membership of a number of professional conduct panels and advisory committees on governance and conduct.

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Professor Catherine Kelly is currently Professor of Law and History at the University of Bristol, appointed as Professor in August 2021. Since joining the University in July 2016 as Reader in Law, Catherine has acted as Chair of Examinations; Director of Undergraduate Studies; Faculty of Health Sciences Fitness to Practise Panel Member and Law School Director of Education. Prior to joining the University of Bristol, she was a senior lecturer in law at the University of Western Australia and worked as Senior Policy Adviser at the Australian Medical Association and in practice as a qualified Solicitor.

Catherine obtained a DPhil at the University of Oxford in November 2008. She has served as a Member on an extensive range of Committees in Australia and the UK since 2015 and has authored or co-authored numerous academic papers focused mainly on medicine and healthcare. 

Annie Newsam graduated from the University of South Wales in 2007, and worked in private practice as owner of a busy chiropractic clinic in South Wales. She is now a full-time senior lecturer at the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic, where she is Module Leader in Behavioural Science, Clinical Preparation, Clinical Diagnosis and Clinical Research. She is also an Academic Misconduct Officer and Investigation Officer for the University, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Before becoming a chiropractor, Annie had graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Chemistry and worked in forensic toxicology as a laboratory manager and as an expert witness.

Annie has previously served as a registrant member on the GCC Professional Conduct Committee, the GCC Health Committee, the GCC Investigation Committee, and as a Chair/Assessor for the GCC Test of Competence Committee.

Register of Interests

Sharon Oliver is an educational and organisational development specialist with experience gained in mainstream secondary education, HE, FE, and across the breadth of NHS service, learning and development environments.  Having initially worked in the pharmaceutical industry, she has since held various operational, strategic, policy and developmental roles in schools, universities and NHS organisations. She has also held several non-executive positions in the North East Learning and Skills Council and in the charity sector. 

She was the Director of Education and Quality for Health Education England in Yorkshire and the Humber then Director of Engagement and Development at the University of Sheffield, working with health and social care organisations on developing teams.  These roles included the widespread training of advanced clinical practitioners and support staff plus initiatives for the effective usage of the range of skills registered professionals can offer in delivering safe and efficient patient care.

Sharon has a thorough understanding of learning and teaching, performance management against quality standards, effective governance and various continuous improvement cultures and methodologies.  Most recently, alongside GCC work, she has continued to do careers and strengths identification work with school and university students as well as some executive coaching.

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Ralph Pottie owns and runs a chiropractic clinic in Ayr, south-west Scotland, along with his wife, a fellow chiropractor. He is a member of the Royal College of Chiropractors, the British Medical Acupuncture Society and a Masters graduate of McTimoney College of Chiropractic. Ralph trained and registered as a General Nurse at Altnagelvin Hospital, Londonderry, working in Accident and Emergency in Belfast City Hospital before taking an Honours degree in Environmental Health at the University of Ulster. He then embarked on a 17 year career, working in both policy development and regulatory areas of food safety in local government and pollution control with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. He currently serves as a senior officer in the Army Reserves, Army Medical Services and is a Director of a limited company in Scotland.

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Keith Richards OBE is a barrister, arbitrator and CEDR-accredited mediator. He has served as an independent member and non-exec director on many regulatory bodies in a variety of sectors and specialises in professional / industry regulation, consumer rights, accessibility and equality issues and redress. He has been involved in developing policy on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Europe and in helping to resolve disputes through ADR for 30 years. Keith currently chairs the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) at the Department for Transport, and the Renewable Energy Consumer Code Non-Compliance Panel. He is a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel at the Financial Conduct Authority, and a Panel Member at the Competition and Markets Authority. Keith is also on the Board of ECPAT, a global charity campaigning against child trafficking and prostitution. Previous roles include Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority Consumer Panel, Deputy Chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Consumer Affairs Panel, Director of Business and Professional Development and Consumer Affairs at the travel industry body ABTA, Senior Campaigns Lawyer at Which?, and legal editor of the journal Consumer Policy Review.

Register of interests

After training as a Registered General Nurse at the Middlesex Hospital in London, Keith graduated from the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic in 1991. He was in private practice nearly 30 years. He had teaching roles in the Peninsula Medical School for 15 years until 2019 and for the last 5 at the School of Health Professions, part of the Faculty of Health in the University of Plymouth.   He is now a full time lecturer in Health Sciences at the University of Plymouth where he is the Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning.

In the past, Keith has held council and executive roles in the British Chiropractic Association and he currently serves on the research committee of the Royal College of Chiropractors.  Keith has been registered with the General Chiropractic Council since its inception and is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Chiropractic . He is also currently part way through a Professional Doctorate at the University of Bath where he is investigating how chiropractors interface with evidence-based practice. He is an External Examiner with the University of South Wales on the Chiropractic course and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

He has recently been appointed Chair of the Board trustees for DDRC, a local diving charity providing divers from Wales to the Southwest with lifesaving assistance using hyperbaric treatment for the 'bends'.

Register of Interests