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The Assurance Desk
Handley Gill logo

Handley Gill review

Advisory firm

A London consultancy offering outsourced data protection and AI officers and tribunal appeal support. It says its consultants do not act as solicitors or barristers.

Relevant if you need data protection and AI governance support, including information-rights tribunal appeals

Price Not published
Indemnity cover Not published
How it uses AI Not published
Facts last checked

Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages.

Handley Gill scores

Six scores, each 1 to 5. The evidence for each is further down.

Help when things go wrong 4/5
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5
What it publishes about fees 3/5
Knowledge of your sector 4/5
Independence from what it sells 4/5
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5

What Handley Gill offers, and what it publishes

Handley Gill covers both data protection and AI. Services include an outsourced DPO, impact assessments, breach response, regulatory enforcement support and UK First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) appeals, plus AI risk assessments, an outsourced AI Responsible Officer and EU AI Act advice. Its team page says founder Nicola Cain trained as a barrister and holds IAPP CIPP/E and AIGP certifications.

Handley Gill does not publish a price. It offers a retained or pay-as-you-use DPO, and fixed-fee or retainer terms for subject access requests, but gives no figures. It does not publish indemnity cover or liability terms. Its privacy policy says nothing about its own use of AI.

Only one consultant, Nicola Cain, is named, so the size of the team is unclear. Its testimonials are anonymous. The firm names its support for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary's live facial recognition roll-out, a PICCASO Europe 2025 finalist. It publishes 24 free compliance checklists and templates and sells no software.

Strengths

  • Principal consultant publishes strong verifiable credentials: IAPP CIPP/E and AIGP, barrister training and IAPP AIGP Exam Development Board membership
  • Publishes its engagement models: retained or pay-as-you-use DPO services and fixed-fee or retainer options for DSARs
  • Named public-sector AI work: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary facial-recognition support (PICCASO Europe 2025 finalist) and City of London Corporation consultation
  • Describes regulatory enforcement support and First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) appeals representation alongside breach preparedness and remediation

Things to check

  • Client testimonials are anonymous and, beyond two named public-sector relationships, no named client case studies with outcomes are published
  • Publishes fee models but no actual figures, rates or worked examples
  • Does not disclose professional indemnity cover, and only one consultant is named on the team page, leaving bench depth unclear
  • Does not publish a statement on the firm's own use of AI in its privacy policy, despite advising clients on AI governance

Common questions

Are Handley Gill's consultants practising lawyers?

No. The firm says its consultants do not act as solicitors or barristers, though it says its founder trained as a barrister at 5RB.

How does Handley Gill charge?

It publishes its models but not its prices: a retained or pay-as-you-use DPO, and fixed-fee or retainer terms for subject access requests.

Can Handley Gill help with ICO enforcement or appeals?

It says it can. Its site describes regulatory enforcement support and representation in First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) appeals.

Evidence for each Handley Gill score

Show our working

Notes behind each thing to check

  • Client testimonials are anonymous and, beyond two named public-sector relationships, no named client case studies with outcomes are published (handleygill.co.uk/testimonials shows unattributed quotes only, checked 2026-07-16)
  • Publishes fee models but no actual figures, rates or worked examples (handleygill.co.uk/for-data-controllers-and-data-processors describes retained/pay-as-you-use and fixed-fee options without prices, checked 2026-07-16)
  • Does not disclose professional indemnity cover, and only one consultant is named on the team page, leaving bench depth unclear (No PI disclosure on handleygill.co.uk/about-handley-gill; /our-team names only Nicola Cain, checked 2026-07-16)
  • Does not publish a statement on the firm's own use of AI in its privacy policy, despite advising clients on AI governance (handleygill.co.uk/privacy-policy contains no AI-use or automated decision-making statement, checked 2026-07-16)
Six criteria, each scored 1 to 5, with the evidence for each.
CriterionScoreEvidence
Help when things go wrong 4/5 Publishes breach preparedness, remediation and incident-response services, regulatory enforcement support and First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) appeals representation, with a named, IAPP-certified, barrister-trained principal and a City of London Police commendation (handleygill.co.uk/data-protection-data-privacy, /testimonials, 2026-07-16); specific ICO-engagement outcomes are not disclosed
Qualifications of the people who do the work 4/5 Named principal with verifiable IAPP CIPP/E and AIGP certifications, barrister training and IAPP AIGP Exam Development Board membership (handleygill.co.uk/our-team, 2026-07-16); only one practitioner is named, so credentials are not demonstrably firm-wide
What it publishes about fees 3/5 Engagement model explained, retained or pay-as-you-use DPO services and fixed-fee or retainer DSAR arrangements, but no figures published (handleygill.co.uk/for-data-controllers-and-data-processors, 2026-07-16)
Knowledge of your sector 4/5 Published specialisms in media/journalism data protection (including claimed involvement in drafting statutory exemptions) and law-enforcement AI, with named work for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (handleygill.co.uk/data-protection-data-privacy, /about-handley-gill, 2026-07-16)
Independence from what it sells 4/5 No software products sold; 24 compliance checklists and templates published free (handleygill.co.uk/helping-hand-compliance-checklists, 2026-07-16); no explicit independence or conflicts statement published
Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong 2/5 Breach preparedness, remediation and incident-response commitments described (handleygill.co.uk/data-protection-data-privacy) but no PI cover or engagement liability terms published as of 2026-07-16

Sources for Handley Gill

  • Companies House registration: Handley Gill Limited, company number 12608561, incorporated 18 May 2020, status Active, registered office International House, 64 Nile Street, London N1 7SR; the firm's site also states ICO registration ZA767642 and VAT registration 375 4884 49 (Companies House, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Service scope: Data protection services include outsourced DPO on a retained or pay-as-you-use basis, DPIAs, breach preparedness/remediation and incident response, regulatory enforcement support and First-Tier Tribunal (Information Rights) appeals; AI services include AI risk/impact assessments, outsourced AI Responsible Officer, ATRS reports, HUDERIA and fundamental-rights assessments, conformity assessments and EU AI Act compliance advice (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Pricing disclosure: Publishes its engagement models, DPO and data-protection management on a retained or pay-as-you-use basis, and fixed-fee or retainer arrangements for data subject access requests, but does not publish any figures, rates or worked examples as of 2026-07-16 (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Credentials: Names founder, CEO and Principal Consultant Nicola Cain, stating barrister training (5RB), prior roles at the BBC and as an equity partner at a City of London law firm, IAPP CIPP/E and AIGP certifications, oxethica Certified AI Professional status and membership of the IAPP AIGP Exam Development Board; the site also states consultants do not act as solicitors or barristers (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Named client outcomes: Names public-sector work for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (live facial recognition roll-out support, PICCASO Awards Europe 2025 finalist) and consultation work with the City of London Corporation; a City of London Police commendation for National Cybercrime Programme work is listed; client testimonials on the site are anonymous (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Independent accreditation: Does not publish any ISO 27001, ISO 27701 or ISO 42001 organisational certification on the pages checked as of 2026-07-16; published recognition comprises awards (Business Awards UK 2025 winner, PICCASO Europe 2025 finalist) and individual professional certifications (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • AI-use disclosure: Its privacy policy does not publish any statement on the firm's own use of AI or automated decision-making as of 2026-07-16, though the firm publishes a free checklist on deploying AI responsibly for clients (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • PI insurance / liability: Does not publish professional indemnity cover or engagement liability terms on its public website pages checked (about, services, privacy policy) as of 2026-07-16 (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)
  • Free resources: Publishes 24 free compliance checklists and templates covering data protection, AI, online safety and human rights, including a DPIA template and a responsible-AI deployment checklist (handleygill.co.uk, checked 16 July 2026)

ICO registration ZA767642 (stated on handleygill.co.uk/about-handley-gill) Business Awards UK Cybersecurity and Resilience Awards 2025, winner, Best Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign PICCASO Awards Europe 2025, finalist, Responsible AI and Data Ethics category Principal consultant holds IAPP CIPP/E and AIGP (stated on handleygill.co.uk/our-team)

First DPO or AI policyAfter a breach or ICO contactExposed to the EU AI ActRegulated sectors

Where this firm appears

If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.

This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.