Alastair spent several years in journalism, on The Spectator and The Financial Times, before becoming a career civil servant. He worked for the Ministry of Defence and for the Department of Trade and Industry, where he became Director General for Industry.
He was President of the British Computer Society in 2000/01. He is a non-executive director of Parity Group (an IT services provider) and a member of charitable trusts including the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.
Alastair is due to step down as a Commissioner in the summer of 2007.
