UKGC Announces Commissioner Reappointments

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced that John Baillie and Catharine Seddon have been reappointed by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport as Commissioners of the Gambling Commission for one year from 11 April 2021 to 10 April 2022.

John is a Chartered Accountant and a former partner of KPMG in Scotland and London. He is immediate past chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, the Scottish local authority watchdog and served two three-year terms. He was also a member of the Reporting Panel of the UK Competition and Markets Authority for nine years. John was also a visiting professor of accountancy at the University of Edinburgh and has previously held similar appointments at other Scottish universities.

Catharine spent 20 years as a film-maker before taking up public non-executive roles. She started as a graduate trainee producer with the BBC and soon specialised in high-end film documentaries, eventually setting up her own production company. She became a magistrate in 2000 and later left television to take up a variety of other judicial roles, to become a member of the Human Tissue Authority and to sit on the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator.

Catharine now sits on the Legal Services Board, where she chairs its Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and has recently joined the board of the HFEA. She is a founding member of the Health Service Products Appeal tribunal and is also a trustee for special needs charity, Cpotential.