Archive for the ‘Consumer matters’ Category
Ofcom. Ofwat. Off to both …
May 13th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
This morning, I have an appointment at the London headquarters of Ofcom, the communications regulator. We have a meeting of the 4G/TV Coexistence Oversight Board of at800, the body responsible for the mitigation measures for interference of 4G mobile services on digital terrestrial television, and I shall be there in my capacity as the Non-Executive Member with a special interest [...]
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The things that I’m learning about water
November 28th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
It is now eight months since I was appointed the independent Chair of the Customer Challenge Group at South East Water which supplies drinking water to 2.1 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. I’m paid to do a day a week, but obviously the actual workload varies from week to week. This week, I [...]
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Is the customer really king?
November 20th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The whole of my portfolio career of the last 10 years has been about representing the interests of the customer/consumer/citizen – see my current and previous appointments here. So I was interested this afternoon when I visited the offices of the Hacked Off campaign for effective regulation of the press because it is located in [...]
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London’s water from the Great Stink to the Tideway Tunnel
September 28th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have now served for six months in my new appointment in the water sector as Chair of the Customer Challenge Group at South East Water. This is a new sector for me and a really complicated one, so I’ve been attending lots of briefings and meetings and doing lots of reading and research. This [...]
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The transformation of the Post Office network
August 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have a long involvement in postal matters. For 24 years, i was national official with a trade union representing postal works and then, after I left the union, I spent 6 years serving on the Boards of Postwatch and then Consumer Focus which have been the statutory consumer bodies on postal issues. Although I [...]
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A review of “The Dark Knight Rises”
July 29th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
British director Christopher Nolan has given us some wonderful films, but his three Batman offerings must be one of the the most satisfying trilogies in cinema history. You can read my review of his third and last Batman film here.
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What can you do with a telephone box?
July 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
First it was life-size models of cows; then it was huge decorated eggs; now it is telephone boxes. I am referring to collections of artistic works placed in public locations all around central London. What’s the latest thing about? To celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChildLine, BT has launched the BT ArtBox project – a vast, [...]
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Is the Royal Bank of Scotland hiding something?
June 26th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As the latest news confirms, the last week has been a disaster for millions of customers at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nat West (my bank) and Ulster Bank. Almost all the media attention has been on the adverse impact on so many customers and the efforts of the banks to mitigate these impacts. But we [...]
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The water shortage in the south-east of England
April 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Following two consecutive exceptionally dry winters, seven water companies in London and the South East of England today bring into force a hosepipe ban as the first in what may be a series of measures designed to reduce demand for water when the supply situation is so critical. As well as being affected by the [...]
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Why we all need regulation
March 27th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This afternoon, I attended a workshop convened by the National Consumer Federation to debate the question “Are regulators failing consumers?” and to start the process of producing a Consumer Charter For Regulators. I was there in my capacity as a member of the Communications Consumer Panel. in my break-out group, I argued that the Charter [...]
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