The Awards Judging Panel

Deborah Benn, Chair

Deborah devised the concept for the Gold Standard Awards. She has contributed to a range of publications worldwide and is the author of How to Maximise Your Wealth Offshore. Deborah edited Financial Times Magazine's Investment Adviser and she is the ex-editor of Incisive Media's International Investment magazine. Deborah currently works on a range of financial newsletters and magazines as well as conference and awards' programmes.

Nick Baker - Managing director, Bakehouse communications

Nick is a marketing professional with more than 20 years' experience in financial services, including financial services consultancy and client-side experience in blue-chip companies such as Barclays and Aetna, and agency experience with clients spanning banking, life offices, insurers and investment companies. He has expertise in strategic marketing and marketing communications, brand development and design of propositions, products and customer experiences. Nick is an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Danby Bloch - Managing director, Taxbriefs Financial Publishing

Danby has written three books on financial planning and innumerable articles for the UK national and trade press. He is also a regular lecturer and trainer on tax and financial subjects. Taxbriefs Financial Publishing produces many of the UK's Chartered Insurance Institute's examination learning texts and also customises newsletters and other publications for financial advisers and accountants. Danby is chairman of London IFAs Helm Godfrey and has been in financial services for over 30 years. He is also Pro-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2004.

Chris Gilchrist - Editor, The IRS Report

Chris Gilchrist is a financial journalist, author and editor with over 30 years' experience in this field. He entered financial journalism from university in 1970 and has written extensively for national newspapers and magazines including the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Investors Chronicle and Sunday Times and contributed to personal finance series on BBC Radio 4, BBC1 and Channel 4. He was editorial director of What Investment and associated magazines and newsletters from 1982 to 1988. Chris edits an investment newsletter, The IRS Report, and is a director of Churchill Investments plc, a firm of independent financial advisers he co-founded in 1996.

Mike Richards - Chairman, Capital City Media

Mike started his advertising career as a messenger at McCann Erickson in 1975. He has since progressed, although still happy to deliver things for clients, and now is the chairman of Capital City Media. This will be the fifth year Mike has judged the Gold Standard awards and he is still waiting for the new carpet Lawrence Gosling promised when it all started. He has also helped out on other Incisive Media activities including fetching Tim Weller's dry cleaning for four successive years. Mike is scared of thunder and pigeons. He owns a season ticket to Bayern Munich Football Club.

Lawrence Gosling - Group Editorial Director, Incisive Media

Lawrence Gosling is the group editorial director of Incisive Media and the founding editor of Investment Week, for which he stills writes a weekly column, Gosling's Grouse. He was also the launch editor of IFAonline, and Mortgage Solutions, Cover and Bloomberg Money magazines, and one of the original judges for the Gold Standards.

Helen Morrissey - Editor, Retirement Planner

Helen has edited Retirement Planner magazine since August 2006. Prior to this she was features editor on Professional Pensions the leading weekly institutional pensions title.

Paul Robertson - Editor, Cover

Paul is the editor of Cover magazine, which is the premier magazine for protection and insurance. Prior to this he was features editor on Mortgage Solutions, a website for mortgage advisrs.

Chris Harvey, Marketer, PR and Executive Coach

Chris has a twenty year career in the financial services industry. A management traineeship at the CU led to an Associate Directorship at AON and by his late twenties Chris was head of marketing for Age Concern's large and very successful general insurance business. A move to agencies saw him become MD of Polhill Communications (now Redleaf Polhill) , a leading specialist financial services communications consultancy supporting brands in every aspect of the industry. Chris then set up on his own and, amongst other things, co-developed a successful suite of TCF management tools, consulting on TCF issues with a wide variety of retail financial services businesses. Chris is a graduate in Economics and Marketing, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a University qualified and accredited executive coach.

Clive Waller, Managing Director, CWC Research

Clive Waller held a variety of management positions in sales and marketing for some twenty-five years with Scottish Amicable and Zurich Insurance. His roles included investment sales manager and sales director at Zurich Life and group director at ZIFA. He became managing partner of the Training Design Studio in 1999, writing and delivering training programmes on taxation, pensions and investment. At the same time, he set up the specialised research-based consultancy, CWC Research with his wife, Monica.
Clive has an MBA from Wolsey Hall, Oxford and is an Associate of the Personal Finance Society. He has been a regular speaker at industry conferences and writes on a variety of issues. Clive writes regular features for FT Business publications.

Peter Le Beau, Industry Commentator

Peter Le Beau has worked in the financial services industry for over 30 years and is one of the best known speakers and writers in the business. Peter's career has been largely spent in reassurance and he has extensive experience in business to business marketing and helping clients to think in original ways about their marketing approach. Peter's success in helping Swiss Re to develop its proposition in the UK has given him an enviable network of contacts throughout the marketplace. Peter believes that business should be fun without sacrificing professionalism and has a keen sense of humour which is very much in evidence in the advice he dispenses to clients. Peter has worked or consulted in the US, South Africa, Asia and European life markets. Peter has established the net-work, a highly successful standing conference in financial services which meets four times a year. Further details can be found at www.the-net-work.org. In June 2009, Peter was awarded the MBE for services to Insurance and Charity in the Queen's Birthday Honours.