Introducing theJPA.club
Privacy advisers can often feel like they are working behind closed doors. You may be working as the only data protection adviser in your organisation, or in a newly formed team, with new ideas, trying to understand new regulation, perhaps without sight of the bigger picture.
The Jump-ahead Privacy Advisers’ Club (theJPA.club) is designed to support and help you.
It’s the first dedicated group of its kind aimed at promoting and celebrating UK privacy professionals in the formative stages of their careers.
How to joinTo join theJPA.club, please register with us by completing and submitting the Club Membership Form. Registering as a member of the theJPA.club is completely free, and so are all the benefits you receive as a member. As a member, you will receive:
You can unsubscribe from our news and events communications, or end your membership, at any time. To find out more how your personal information will be used, please see the Club Privacy Notice. Please see the Club’s Membership Terms which will apply to your membership of the Club.
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Club mission
The Club exists to serve the needs of privacy advisers working as lawyers, DPOs, consultant advisers or other privacy professionals in the UK, whether in the private, public or third sector, including for regulators, NGOs and private practice law firms, as well as in-house.
It aims to achieve its mission by:
- creating a membership network and platform to encourage debate
- working in partnership with all parts of the wider privacy community and industry to promote the interests of privacy advisers during their professional development
- hosting events to support professional development and networking opportunities
- presenting awards to celebrate the achievements of up-and-coming privacy professionals
About the Club
The Club is resourced by law firm Shoosmiths and administered by the firm’s Privacy & Data Team, recognised as a leading practice by the Legal 500, UK Chambers and GDR100 legal directories.
With offices in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Sheffield, Solent, Thames Valley, Northampton, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, Shoosmiths is uniquely placed to power the Club and provide true UK-wide support for its members.
The Club has been shortlisted for an FT Europe Innovation Award and PICCASO Privacy Award.
Becoming a member
Membership is free and open to all privacy advisers working in the UK who are looking for support to develop their career and practice, or looking to help us provide that support and achieve our mission.
From its launch in August 2023, the Club provides the following benefits to its members:
- Local networking evenings and speaker events
- Regular newsletters with information on the latest data protection developments
- Early bird invitation to Shoosmiths’ annual data protection conference
- Participation in theJPA.club UK Privacy Adviser of the Year award, judged by an independent panel of privacy experts
If you would like to join the club, please see the section at the top of this page. If you have any queries or would like to find out more about joining as a Club member before registering, please contact the Membership Team at [email protected].
Contributing to the Club’s success
In keeping with the of the ethos of the Club, we would like to work with all parts of the privacy community to ensure that the Club is able to serve the full spectrum of its members.
We welcome members from organisations that wish to support us to achieve our mission by taking an active role in the Club as Club Partners. As a Club Partner, you can support the Club in a number of different ways, including by:
- contributing to Club materials, in particular by providing insight into working life and opportunities to find out more about the roles played by privacy advisers within your organisation
- taking an active role at events organised by the Club such as participating as a speaker or chairing panel discussions
- working with the Club to identify new initiatives that will enhance the support provided by the Club to its members
- participating as an independent judge as part of the expert judging panel for the UK Privacy Adviser of the Year
- making existing mentoring schemes and support networks available to Club members
- encouraging participation of your privacy advisers with the Club in the course of its work in the wider privacy community
Please download our Club Partner Guide to find out more.
If you are interested in working with the Club to support the UK privacy professionals of the future, we would love to hear from you. If you run or represent a similar club or network outside the UK, we would also be interested in exploring opportunities to collaborate.
Please email us at [email protected].
Networking & speaker events
The Club holds networking and speaker events throughout the year across the UK.
Please see below for details of upcoming events.
Global privacy & data updates
We provide regular updates with the latest legal and industry developments in the world of privacy and data, sign up to get them delivered straight to your inbox.
You can download a selection of updates from previous months below.
Data Insights x Shoosmiths
All members are guaranteed an opportunity to attend our annual Data Insights conference which looks at the year that was in privacy and data, and to the year ahead.
There’s no charge for you to attend, and it is a great opportunity to hear from and meet some of the leading voices in privacy.
To find out more about the conference please see Privacy & data events.
theJPA.club UK Privacy Adviser of the Year
We organise this dedicated award to celebrate the contributions and achievements of privacy advisers that are rising stars. By recognising the talents of the very best practitioners in the field, we aim to inspire others working in privacy practice to do the same.
You do not need to be a member to be nominated or to submit a nomination, but you will need to be a member to receive the award. The judging criteria are set out in the entry form and our terms of entry apply to all entries.
The awards are judged each year by an independent panel of privacy professionals.
Prizes
Each winner will receive, based on their preferences and availability:
- a place at either the next available 11KBW Information Law Conference or Privacy Space; and
- either an International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) CIPP course and exam of their choice or a place at the next available Privacy Laws & Business International Conference.
theJPA.club UK Privacy Adviser of the Year 2025Thank you to everyone that submitted a nomination for the award this year. The deadline to submit nominations for this year’s award has now passed. Thank you to everyone that submitted a nomination and please look out for the upcoming launch for our 2026 award.
Winner of the 2025 awardWe are delighted to announce Paul Obanya, Data Protection Paralegal at Moonpig is the winner of this year’s award. Our independent panel of judges were impressed by a nomination that spoke to Paul's intellectual curiosity, dedication to continuous learning and commitment to being a true team player. Paul was presented with the award by Rory Sutherland at the Data Insights x Shoosmiths 2025 conference.
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Adele Ashiru Adele is an award-winning privacy professional, and a rising star within the field. In her current role, she operates as the Data Protection Officer for The Coca-Cola Company, Europe, including Costa Coffee and Innocent Drinks, where she monitors the organisations’ data privacy compliance, advises the business, and leads training and awareness initiatives. |
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Mark Lant Mark has a broad public, regulatory and data protection law background having gained 17 years’ experience working as a lawyer within the public and private sectors. He is currently Senior Legal Counsel at Volkswagen Group UK where he advises on the full range of data protection matters. Outside of work, Mark enjoys playing and watching a number of sports and spending time with his family (at least when the kids are behaving!).
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Simon Samuels Simon spent a 25-year career in investment banking before obtaining a degree (in law) which he had previously neglected to do. Post degree he joined the charity sector in 2004, initially in fundraising before moving into the emerging field of compliance post GDPR. He is presently Head of Compliance and Data Protection at Mind and has a particular interest in the area of regulatory law. |
theJPA.club UK Privacy Adviser of the Year 2024
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Winner of the 2024 award |
Ben Gregson Ben is the Group Data Protection Officer for NEXT. He joined NEXT in September 2022, bringing a wealth of experience spanning seven years in the dynamic realm of data protection and privacy. Prior to this, he served as the Deputy Group DPO at Sainsbury’s Group. Ben passionately embraces the challenges inherent in his field, and is committed to safeguarding personal data and upholding individual rights. |
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Christina Tueje Christina is the founder and principal consultant at GRC Information Management, a data strategy consultancy that advises its clients on AI, governance, cybersecurity, and privacy compliance. Christina designs and delivers coaching programmes primarily for women working in data, tech, or privacy, drawing on over 15 years of experience leading business transformation projects. Christina is the founder and strategic lead for the UK Black Privacy Professionals Network, a business network that aims to create and facilitate access to learning, employment and business opportunities for its members
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Ben Martin Ben is an author and experienced data protection lawyer. He has a deep passion for data protection and is experienced in making legal compliance practical. He seeks to help those working in startups and scaleups bridge the gap which can exist between business goals and data protection compliance in a practical, commercial way. He sets out his blueprint for this in the practical guide, 'GDPR for startups and scaleups' published last year. Ben has implemented data protection at scaleups and large tech businesses across different sectors. He now heads up the data protection team at Trustpilot. |
Mentorship
Mentoring is an excellent way to cultivate the next generation of privacy advisers so we’ve teamed up with the Privacy & Data team at Shoosmiths to create a mentoring programme for members yet to start their journey in privacy. Social mobility is key part of the values at Shoosmiths and the programme focusses on creating opportunities for members from disadvantaged backgrounds.
By mentoring members looking to embark on a career in privacy, established privacy professionals can share their knowledge and experience to those that need it most in the privacy community.
To find out more about the Club’s mentoring programme, please contact Alice Wallbank by email at [email protected] or by phone on 03700 86 4276.
Legal information
Please see the Club’s Membership Terms which govern your membership of the Club.
To find out how we use personal information relating to members and other participants in the Club, please see the Club Privacy Notice.
This website is subject to the terms and conditions governing the use of Shoosmiths websites at Website Terms of Use.
Key contacts
Sherif Malak
Partner
- , Business crime & regulatory, Compliance & r...
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+44(0)20 7205 7053
- +44(0)20 7205 7053
Alice Wallbank
Professional Support Lawyer
- , Commercial, Business crime & regulatory, Co...
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+44 (0)3700 864 276
- +44 (0)3700 864 276
