Before joining the Gambling Commission as its first general counsel in October, Neil McArthur had a low profile as the general counsel of the General Teaching Council, the professional body for teaching in England.

Prior to this role he was at the Learning and Skills Council, the teachers’ equivalent of the Law Society and the body that provides advice to the Government on teaching issues.

But McArthur will have a much higher profile at the Gambling Commission as it gears up for the implementation of the highly controversial UK Gambling Act.

Set to expand his small team of three, McArthur has vowed to take an inclusive approach to implementation, meeting the Government, gaming companies and gambling charities to establish how best to enforce the law when the act is introduced in September 2007.