NfCG Chairman Bob Gale awarded OBE
in the New Year’s Honours list.

Former Cumbria Trading Standards Chief, and Chairman of both NfCG and the Consumers in Europe Group (CEG), Bob Gale, has been awarded an OBE for his services to the CEG, which he has headed since 1994 and of which he has been a member since 1983. Bob, Brenda, and their two sons Stephen and Matthew will be going to Buckingham Palace in February to receive the award.

Bob was appointed Chief Inspector of Weights and Measures for the County Borough of Barrow in Furness in 1964 and, having gained a Bachelor of Law degree at London University in 1973, became Cumbria County Council Chief Trading Standards Officer shortly afterwards, "retiring" in 1995. Of all the retired people one meets he must, when one considers the activities mentioned in the first paragraph, be one of the most unretired. Among his professional activities was a six year spell, from 1983 to 1989, as Honorary Secretary of the Institute of Trading Standards Administration (ITSA) and he followed that up by becoming Chairman in 1989/90.

A brief insight into his leisure interests may be gained by considering his Chairmanship of the Cumbria Table Tennis Association and the Presidency of the Kendal and District Table Tennis League. He also plays golf and keeps fit.

About CEG

The Consumers in Europe Group is an umbrella body for 34 member organisations. The list seems to include every aspect of consumer interest. It seeks to represent the collective views of its members on EU policies which affect UK consumers. It was set up in 1978 and is grant-aided by the Department of Trade and Industry through the National Consumer Council. Its aims are:

• to gather information and generate research on the implications of EU policies for UK consumers:
• to establish, after consultation with member organisations, UK consumer views on such policies:
• to ensure as far as possible that UK consumers are adequately represented at all levels of discussion on EU matters affecting them:
• to make representations to the institutions of the EU and to the UK Government
• to support the work of UK consumer members of the Economic and Social Committee, the Commission’s Consumer Committee and the Commission’s Agricultural Advisory Committee.

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