News

In the Spotlight - Alison Farrar

Posted 31/01/24

This month we profile Alison Farrar, an Operations Manager for the National Trading Standards team as well as our Lead Officer for Property and Lettings and Consumer Education.

Changing careers

I started in Trading Standards as a Consumer Advice Officer in 2004 having decided that I wanted a change of scenery. My children were now at secondary school and it was a good time for a career move. I had been in retail since university – I didn’t finish my degree but I’ve certainly been able to make use of what I learned in maths and physics lectures! I managed a couple of small independent bakery chains, producing and selling bread and cakes including wedding cakes. I used to dread getting that Trading Standards visit and watch the bread being weighed, and remember adding extra into sliced loaves to make them 800g.

I then worked in retail as a manager, running independent clothing stores, working with up and coming designers and producing our own brand of clothing, which was challenging because it’s surprising how easily a designer can be influenced by other designs and suddenly turn into an unintended copy of someone else’s work!

I bring all of that experience with me into my career at Trading Standards and always felt I could understand the difficulties businesses face when legislation changes and procedures are brought in that cost time and money.

Starting the Trading Standards journey

In my first week at Trading Standards I was overwhelmed by the breadth of knowledge in the office. I remember being so impressed by the people – they were so experienced and could remember sections of laws and cases from long ago. I knew then that I wanted to make something of this job and was soon sticking my nose into everything that went on at the office.

I first became a member of the Institute when I started my DCATS training. I and a colleague had to argue our case with HR to allow us to become student members even though they were going to save money on our course fees. We thought it a ridiculous rule that only senior officers were allowed to be members of our professional body and were lucky that we had a supportive Chief Officer who encouraged us at every step of the way.

I was also encouraged to make the most of my enthusiasm for my work by joining the fair trading and consumer advice panels which brought together officers in Wales to work on collaborative projects. This allowed me to get involved with many different projects over the years and I led on Doorstep Crime and scams as well as many other initiatives over the years. This led me to becoming Lead Officer for Consumer Intervention for WHoTS (now Trading Standards Wales) and that involved some amazing projects like the Iceman (cold caller) campaign and the Wales against Scams Partnership with the Older person’s commissioner. The highlight for me was taking the Young Consumer of the Year competition first to the Senedd with the First Minister and on to the House of Commons to have breakfast on the terrace with the finalists of the competition.

Expanding Horizons

I have been Lead Officer for Consumer Education with Louise Baxter for a number of years and am the Chair of the Consumer Empowerment Alliance and the CEA’s member on the CTSI Council. I’m also Vice Chair of the Welsh branch of the Institute and on the Race and Equalities panel. My aim for my year as Chair is to mentor and encourage new TS members and in particular women entering the profession. Having spent many an uncomfortable day out on building sites and quarries with no female facilities I feel that while there is an improvement in that TS officers come from a more diverse background than in the past, there is often no real consideration of the working conditions - no washing or prayer facilities are available when out doing bulk fuel or doorstep trader checks, and we need to get better at recognising that we need to improve the way we plan our workloads.

I’m currently Operations Manager at the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team and have been able to speak at branch events and deliver training across the country as part of my role. This has been interesting and engaging and while we all face different challenges, it’s reassuring to see that colleagues across the country still have that passion and drive for the work we do. I’m currently running Operation Jigsaw which is about setting up regional coordination in Private Sector Housing teams across England, and it’s obvious to me that Trading Standards officers are great at working together, sharing ideas and resources within the TS community. I’m busy promoting intelligence sharing across Housing teams and it’s a startlingly different landscape, highlighting just how collaborative TS teams are.

Being a CTSI member

Everything I have been involved in since becoming a member of CTSI has been underpinned by the fact that as a member, I have a professional body that supports me as an individual and my profession as a whole. When I film for Defenders UK or other media work I’m often asked “what does a Trading Standards Officer think of this issue?” and whether it’s about counterfeit goods, dog breeding or organised crime, I’m proud to be able to say that I am a Trading Standards Officer and I know there is an army of people who all feel the same way I do. For me, a key part of being a member of the Institute is that it’s like being part of a family. We don’t always agree on every point, but we will stick together and back each other up. We’re really up against it with local authority cuts and Councils struggling to keep afloat and I think of the Institute as a valuable ally which will support us all and fight our corner.

My career has been helped by being a member of CTSI and being able to add that Chartered status was exciting and added some gravitas to the profession at a time when the service was being amalgamated with other public protection teams in many authorities. As TS Wales lead officer for media I always made sure that we used the full title of the Institute to remind people that we are a serious profession underpinned by values and rules that reflect the importance of the work we do.

Inspired to join Trading Standards?

My top tip for someone wanting to join Trading Standards is to find a way to do the qualification and to take part in every project and survey to give you experience. There are opportunities like apprenticeships now and plenty of fantastic training courses out there. It’s an interesting career and I’ve always said I want to write a book compiling funny stories I’ve heard from colleagues across the country. It’s such an important job because we help save lives and combat criminals and it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to help individuals and businesses. I’ve been incredibly lucky to find myself working in Trading Standards and have met some wonderful characters along the way.

In the Spotlight is the new section in our monthly members' newsletter (Head Office Update), where we shine a light on our members and the inspiring work they do. If you know someone who deserves to be in the spotlight, please let us know here.