Members of the Nations Committee are listed below. You can read biographies by clicking on each member's name. Their disclosable interests can be read by referring to the separate disclosable interests pages for the Ofcom Board, Content Board, the Advisory Committee for Wales, the Advisory Committee for England, the Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland and the Advisory Committee for Scotland.
Tim Suter (Ofcom Board Member and Chairman of the Nations Committee)
Tim Suter was appointed to the Ofcom Board with effect from 2 October 2017. He is also a member of the Content Board, Chairman of the Nations Committee, and a member of the Remuneration Committee and Nominations Committee.
Tim Suter was a BBC producer, editor and senior manager for 15 years, working across television, radio and on-line and in genres as diverse as drama, documentary and current affairs.
In 2002 he was appointed Head of Broadcasting Policy in the Department for Culture Media and Sport, responsible for the Communications Act of 2003 that overhauled the policy approach to the converging industries of media and telecommunications and included the creation of the converged regulator, Ofcom.
Tim joined Ofcom at its inception in 2003 as the founding Partner for Content and Standards, overseeing the regulation of all broadcast content, the development of policy and its implementation. After five years at Ofcom, Tim left to found Perspective Associates, advising media companies, governments and regulators on media policy and regulation. As well as working with major international media companies across the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Tim has also been a special advisor to the House of Lords Communications Committee, and the chair of an expert panel advising the Council of Europe of the governance of Public Service Media.
Laura Alexander (Chairman, Scotland)
After a degree in Physics and Electronics Laura worked as a Senior Electronic Design engineer in a variety of sectors, including Defence, Mobile Phones and Telecommunications, becoming a Chartered Engineer through the IET. She also has a Masters in Technology Management.
Laura currently works for the Open University, teaching Science and Technology via various online media including Virtual Learning Environments. This work includes creating new online materials for courses and moderating online forums, as well as research into effective on-line learning and novel teaching techniques.
She has experience as a member of a range of community and sporting bodies including community councils, Parent Councils etc.
Laura has 2 children at school, and has a keen interest in current initiatives in Primary and Secondary education, eg Curriculum for Excellence, Media Literacy etc.
John Varney (Chairman, England)
John currently runs his own consultancy, Maximum Clarity, supporting public and private sector bodies with a wide range of technology issues. He is also Chairman of Pebble Beach Systems Group plc, which delivers software solutions for TV Broadcasters globally.
His previous roles include just under five years as Chief Technology Officer for the BBC and six years as Director of Technology for Granada. In these roles John oversaw the launch of DTT in 7 of the 13 ITV Regions and managed the development of a range of new BBC services including its R&D division.
John is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Silk Heritage Trust, which runs 4 museums dedicated to the story of silk production in the UK and the Industrial, Social and Economic Development of the North West of England in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. He is a Director of Enterprising Macclesfield CiC, where he is also a business coach and mentor for local enterprises.
He is a Governor and member of Audit Committee at Manchester Metropolitan University.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Television Society.
Glyn Mathias (Chairman, Wales)
Glyn Mathias has more than 30 years' experience as a broadcast journalist for both ITN and BBC Wales, serving as Political Editor for both organisations. From 2001 to 2008, he was the Electoral Commissioner for Wales, and in 2011 was the author of the Mathias Report on the work of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales.
From 2011 to 2015, he served as the member from Wales on the Ofcom Content Board, which sets and enforces quality and standards for television and radio across the UK. In addition, he was Deputy Chair of the Broadcast Licensing Committee which allocates commercial and community radio licences and local television licences around the UK.
Glyn has served on the Advisory Committee for Wales since 2007. He has helped to lead the Committee's work on the future of public service broadcasting, particularly the impact of any changes on the broadcasting environment in Wales.
He is currently the independent Chair of Dwr Cymru's Membership Selection Panel.
Glyn lives in Brecon with his wife Ann and daughter Hannah. He is President of the Brecknock Society.
Professor Maureen Edmondson (Chairman, Northern Ireland)
Maureen has worked in the food industry for much of her career and has held a number of roles in public sector and not-for-profit organisations. She spent 20 years in International Scientific Affairs at Mars Incorporated and later held public positions at Postwatch, the Food Standards Agency and is currently Chair of the Patient and Client Council. Maureen holds a degree and PhD from Queens University of Belfast . She is Immediate Past President of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Chair of Governors of Edgehill Theological College. She was a member of the Communications Consumer Panel between 2008 and 2012 as the member for Northern Ireland.
Graham Mather
Graham Mather was appointed to the Ofcom Board with effect from 1 June 2014. He is a member of Ofcom's Nations Committee, Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee and Risk and Audit Committee. Graham Mather was a member of Ofcom's Consumer Panel from 2004 to 2008. He served as a member of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and, between 2000 and 2012, was also member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, the body that deals with appeals from the UK regulators. Graham is currently the President of the European Policy Forum and Chairman of its Regulatory Best Practice Group.
Register of disclosable interests
