BPA governance Meet the (new) team Fifteen BPA members were successful in their bid to join the BPA Council in the recent elections. In the first of a two-part series, eight of the team tell us a bit about their career so far and why they stood for Council, and share some of their most memorable parking moments Jamie Ashford, technical director at DCB Legal, and Parking on Private Land representative I am a lawyer and have worked in parking for around 10 years now. Before joining DCB Legal two years ago, I worked as an international lawyer at Bierens Law in Amsterdam. At DCB Legal, I have been responsible for expanding our private litigation team, and now have a consulting role on the board. I thoroughly enjoy working in the parking sector and it has provided me with a lot, developmentally. I now want to give back in my elected position on the BPA Council, and use my skills and experience to benefit the sector, and share the knowledge and perspectives I have developed during my career. I want to help the sector overcome challenges as it continues to evolve, particularly around parking on private land. As a director at one of the leading private organisations within the sector, I have a unique insight into the roadblocks that the industry faces, and ideas about the solutions that can be used to overcome them. I recently chaired the Women in Parking panel event at Parkex, which was a great experience and honour for me, especially in being able to raise awareness of the campaign to promote the welfare and safety of women that use parking facilities across the UK. I plan to spearhead positive change in this area with DCB Legal and our sister company DCBL. John Mason, director, CDER Group, and Enforcement Agencies representative After starting my career in banking, I joined Westminster Council in 1994, when parking was first decriminalised, managing everything from parking meter maintenance to vehicle clamping and removal. I moved to Transport for London in 2001, and led on the implementation and operation of the new congestion charging zone, then on the licensing of Londons black cabs and mini cabs. Since 2013, I have been Jamie Ashford a board-level director at CDER Group and currently head up our road traffic and road user charging services division. Since entering the industry, I have played an active role in BPA activities. When the recent vacancies for the Council were announced, I felt the time was right to be an even more active participant in BPA business and projects. I am really looking forward to helping shape and form the policies and projects on which the BPA will focus in the coming years. One of my most memorable moments in parking is from my early years in Westminster. I had a meeting with a bailiff, who handed me a card that had a picture of a thug with a baseball bat and the motto XXX Bailiffs. We dont f*@k about. The difference between that attitude and where we are now with enforcement summarises the journey the parking John Mason enforcement and debt-recovery industry has been on for the 30 PN Sept 2022 pp30-33 Council Members.indd 30 22/08/2022 09:34