Career Biography

Barney Paton is the Legal Director for Omaze UK, a for-profit social impact company that offers once-in-a-lifetime prizes to customers while raising millions for charitable causes. As part of Omaze’s Global Executive Leadership Team, Paton leads the legal, regulatory, data protection and risk functions, advising across Omaze’s operations in the UK, Europe and the US. His remit spans strategic legal leadership, governance, and commercial enablement for one of the fastest-growing social lottery and prize draw businesses in the market.

Paton joined Omaze in 2022 to establish and lead the company’s London-based Legal Department during a key period of rapid growth and evolving regulation. Since then, he has built a high-performing and business-embedded legal function from the ground up. He has been instrumental in shaping Omaze’s compliance architecture, developing innovative risk management and data protection practices suited to a dynamic, consumer-facing environment.

In addition to his legal leadership, Paton plays a central role in Omaze’s international expansion. He leads the company’s new markets strategy, identifying, assessing and executing opportunities to extend the Omaze model into new jurisdictions and growth channels. Professionally, Paton is recognised for combining legal precision with entrepreneurial vision. He has a track record of building a lean, high-impact team and positioning Legal as a true partner in business growth and innovation.

Before joining Omaze, Paton was with Toyota Connected Europe, the innovation and data-driven mobility arm of Toyota Motor Corporation. There, he advised on connected car, data, and mobility projects, working across commercial, IP, data protection and regulatory issues throughout the Toyota Group’s European and global operations. Prior to that, he was with Trainline.com, supporting the company’s growth and monetisation initiatives across its white-label, B2B and API licensing businesses. His work focused on partnerships, data governance, and operational scaling during a period of major digital transformation.

Prior to going in house, Paton was in private practice with Morton Fraser Macroberts in Edinburgh, advising on M&A, corporate reorganisations, and technology and data protection matters.