LoginIN THE SPOTLIGHT: Vincent Searle
As a Principal Trading Standards Officer & Team Leader at Newham Council and a member of the London Branch’s Race and Equalities Working Group, Vincent Searle has dedicated his career to public service, advancing professionalism in our sector, and the values that underpin Trading Standards. In this interview, Vincent speaks candidly about why he pursued CTSP, how it has supported his growth over the last decade, and why he sees chartership as vital in strengthening the profession.
Strong Driver Of Fairness
Q. You became a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner in 2016. Looking back nearly ten years on, how does it feel to have been involved almost from the start?
When I first became a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner (CTSP) in 2016, I saw it through the lens of Simon Sinek’s Start with Why. Every profession has its “what” and “how”, but CTSP was about defining our “why”: why we do what we do, and why professional standards and public trust matter.
I saw chartership as an opportunity to formalise the values our profession had quietly upheld for decades — integrity, consistency, and accountability — and to future-proof them in a world that was changing fast. It was never about personal recognition; it was about shaping a culture and creating a shared language for professionalism at a time when the identity of Trading Standards was evolving.
Q. How has being chartered influenced your professional development?
Chartership didn’t just strengthen my credentials, it changed the way I think about leadership, influence, and service. It moved me from seeing professionalism as compliance to understanding it as contribution, a responsibility to make regulation visible, accessible, and relatable.
I often reflect on leaders like Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, people who showed that influence is not only about position but about purpose and service. That way of thinking has shaped how I show up in my role. Sharing insights and stories through my work and online presence has helped bring Trading Standards into the public eye. Over time, chartership has shaped not only how others see me, but how I see my own role, as someone who connects people to the purpose behind what we do.
Q. What impact has chartership had on your career more broadly?
For me, CTSP has been a turning point; the moment my career moved from doing the work to shaping the profession. It opened doors to leadership opportunities and helped me influence how the profession tells its story.
My work with the CTSI London Branch Race and Equalities Working Group has also been important. It showed me how inclusion strengthens professionalism and how visible role models can inspire confidence across the workforce. The Ubuntu principle, “I am because we are”, captures that. When we lift others, we raise the standard of the profession itself.
Chartership has been the thread connecting it all, credibility, visibility, and inclusion, helping me grow from practitioner to purpose-driven leader, and helping our profession evolve from a service that reacts to one that inspires.
Q. The profession has seen huge changes over the last decade. How has CTSP helped you stay grounded through that?
The past ten years have brought constant change, in technology, expectations and resources. Chartership has been an anchor through all of it. Each renewal is a moment of reflection: how have I grown, how have I strengthened the profession, how am I using my platform. That accountability keeps me focused. It has also helped me see change not as disruption but as an opportunity for development.
Q. Has chartership influenced the way you approach leadership?
It has, in every way. Chartership didn’t just refine how I lead, it reshaped why I lead. It reminded me that leadership starts with service. It is not about hierarchy; it is about helping others grow.
I try to lead through visibility and communication, recognising others, sharing learning and celebrating success. The leaders who inspire me most are those who stay calm, compassionate and consistent under pressure. That is the example I try to follow, to lift others and leave every team stronger than before.
Q. How do you see CTSP contributing to equality, diversity and inclusion across the profession?
Chartership is one of the strongest drivers of fairness in our profession. It sets a shared standard for everyone. It gives every professional the same opportunity to be measured by merit, not circumstance, and that makes our culture fairer. Through the Race and Equalities Working Group, I have seen how visible role models matter. Chartership helps create those role models and gives them a recognised platform.
For me, excellence in Trading Standards has no single face or pathway. Inclusion is not an add on, it is part of the standard we set for ourselves. Chartership makes that visible. It says that integrity, competence and consistency are what define us, whoever we are and wherever we work.
Q. What have you found most rewarding about maintaining CTSP long term, and what has been the most challenging?
The most rewarding part of maintaining chartership has been learning how to stay hungry in a role that demands steadiness. In the public sector, it’s easy to become defined by process, but chartership keeps me focused on progress.
Chartership encourages continuous improvement. It pushes you to keep learning, to test new ideas and to reflect on your impact. The hardest part is sustaining that energy in environments where change is not always easy. But chartership anchors progress in ethics. It ensures that innovation does not come at the expense of public trust.
Q. What would you say to someone considering applying for CTSP?
Do not wait for perfect conditions. Chartership helps you think differently about your development and gives you the confidence to take the next step. It is not about reaching the top, it is about choosing not to stand still. If you care about your professionalism and your contribution, then CTSP is an honest reflection of that.
Q. And after nearly a decade, what does CTSP represent to you now?
Continuity. A bridge between where I began and the difference I still want to make. It feels less like an achievement and more like a responsibility, something I uphold, not just something I hold. It reminds me that our progress rests on the people who came before us, and that we have a duty to lift the next generation higher. That, to me, is what chartership represents now.
This interview with Vincent is part of CTSI’s ten-years of chartership anniversary series. Look out for the full feature on what chartership is, how it works and the routes to achieving it in the January issue of the Journal of Trading Standards.
Find out more about becoming a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner here.
