# Handley Gill - **Type:** Advisory firm - **Website:** https://www.handleygill.co.uk/ - **Assessed by:** The Assurance Desk (Add-Venture Advisory Ltd) 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. ## Handley Gill scores Scored 1 to 5 on six criteria. There is no overall score. ### 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 Every line carries the page it was read on and the date it was checked. - 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 - Source: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12608561 - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/artificial-intelligence-ai - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/for-data-controllers-and-data-processors - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/our-team - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/testimonials - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/about-handley-gill - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/privacy-policy - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/about-handley-gill - Checked: 2026-07-16 - 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 - Source: https://www.handleygill.co.uk/helping-hand-compliance-checklists - Checked: 2026-07-16 ## What this provider publishes Not published means we did not find it on the firm's own pages. - Price: Not published - Indemnity cover: Not published - Credentials: Published - Independent accreditation: Not published - Client results: Published - How it uses AI: Not published ## 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 Each one carries the factual basis it rests on. - Client testimonials are anonymous and, beyond two named public-sector relationships, no named client case studies with outcomes are published - Basis: handleygill.co.uk/testimonials shows unattributed quotes only, checked 2026-07-16 - Publishes fee models but no actual figures, rates or worked examples - Basis: 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 - Basis: 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 - Basis: handleygill.co.uk/privacy-policy contains no AI-use or automated decision-making statement, checked 2026-07-16 ## Where this firm appears - [Do you need a data protection officer?](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/first-appointment) - [After a data breach: what UK law asks of you](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/post-breach) - [Does the EU AI Act apply to a UK firm?](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/eu-ai-act-exposed) - [Your sector adds its own rules to UK data protection law](https://theassurancedesk.com/best/sector-regulated) - [Compare providers](https://theassurancedesk.com/compare) --- **Scope.** The Assurance Desk covers data protection, AI governance and cyber security in the United Kingdom and the United States. It scores providers in both: UK-facing firms, and firms based in the United States. Every provider scored so far was selected for data-protection, AI-governance or security-assurance work. Where a page describes law, it names the country that law applies in. **Who publishes this.** The Assurance Desk is published by Add-Venture Advisory Ltd, company number 11854524, registered in England and Wales. The same owner runs Avouch, a marketing agency that sells AI visibility services to firms of the kind this site covers. That is a conflict of interest, and it is disclosed here. **Corrections.** If you represent this firm and something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@theassurancedesk.com with the evidence.