Charmian Averty

Which?

Gone are the days when big business can drown out consumers in public conversations around Brexit, Big Tech and now Covid-19. Driving change, in the hope of stamping out bad corporate behaviour and providing safe and simple choices for consumers, is Which? general counsel Charmian Averty.

Averty has spent the past year leading the consumer watchdog’s charge into the collective action arena. Which? was the only intervener in the Merricks/Mastercard mega-appeal before the Supreme Court, which later delivered a landmark ruling reviving the possibility of a £14bn group action over interchange fees.

Which? has since launched its own opt-out proceedings worth £480m against US tech titan Qualcomm, on behalf of around 29 million UK consumers.

Alongside her case management, Averty’s role has been to secure buy-in from across the business. Litigating before the Competition Appeal Tribunal is a risk, but one that if successful would instil consumer confidence in the UK’s redress regime and empower Which? to take further action over data privacy.

Such calculated risk-taking is at the heart of corporate governance changes spearheaded by Averty. She has also rolled out masterclasses for effective virtual board meetings amid Covid-chaos and now hopes the charity will attract diverse lawyers from non-traditional routes to practice.