Interim General Counsel supporting the iconic Harland & Wolff through a significant restructure and transformational period across Group companies including the core operational yards in Belfast, Methil, Arnish and Appledore, and non-core operations. Working alongside Russell Downs (Interim Executive Chairman), Senior Leadership Team and external advisors (Rothschild, Teneo) to gain critical investment, restructure the group, bring about renewed stability and enable longer term growth.Also overseeing day to day legal operations of the Group. Managing all commercial contracts, new bids, complex litigation, employment issues, data privacy, Company Secretarial and Board governance.

Member of Executive Leadership team, leading Ted Baker's “Brand, Risk & Reputation” function, covering Legal, Governance & Compliance, Communications & PR, Risk Management and Corporate Responsibility. Providing strategic legal and commercial advice to the Executive, Senior Leadership and Board of Directors. Leading major corporate, financing and commercial transactions, providing general Legal and Company Secretarial support, and mentoring team members. Significant achievements include: - Leading a major restructure of the Ted Baker business under Authentic Brands Group, resulting in sale to territorial licence partners and a transition of business units into separate leadership; - Leading two complex and time-pressured debt financing facility transactions with Authentic Brands Group and Secure Trust Bank/Modella Capital; - Navigating the Board through a period of financial distress and supporting business into and through insolvent administration; - Creating, mentoring and leading a talented, motivated and high performing cross functional "BRR" team through a period of signification transformation - Supporting Ted Baker's Administrators (Teneo Financial Services) through a trading administration to eventual wind up of the business.Our team aims to help make Ted a great place to work, and be a brand that is loved and respected by our consumers. We are a key function for enabling the business to grow at pace, whilst managing commercial and legal risk, and external reputation.

As Group Legal Director I led the Legal function, carrying out Corporate M&A, restructuring, commercial contracts, IP, data, employment, litigation and regulatory compliance work. As a lean team I am a hands on leader, working closely with all stakeholders as a strategic business partner.

Leading the Ted Baker legal function, supporting commercial, distribution, design, brand, data/IT, marketing, customer and IT teams. Advising the Executive on corporate/commercial issues and carrying out all Company Secretarial work. Management of all IP matters and online brand protection. As Data Protection Officer, management of GDPR compliance and 3rd party processing risk. Active part of Senior Leadership Team, Risk Committee and Information Security Steering Committee. Management of legal budget and supervision of Legal Counsel.

Due to the administration of The Collective in October 2021, I took on a short term FTC as Senior Privacy Counsel focusing on management of data privacy risk and GDPR compliance.

Lead senior lawyer supporting Operations, Consumer/Marketing/Brand, Technology and on-site operational teams. Responsible for negotiating and drafting key commercial contracts, leading and advising on GDPR compliance, advising on brand strategy, boosting sales through effective long stay/short stay commercial deals and implementing efficient legal and operational processes. Appointed Chair of The Collective's Covid-19 Steering Group throughout the pandemic, helping manage, lead and coordinate the company's response to the rapidly changing Covid climate. Supporting F&B team on commercial contracts, operational issues and strategy. Managing The Collective's intellectual property and providing strategic advise on trade mark litigation and brand protection.My time at The Collective ended when the company went into Administration.

Following redundancy after a major corporate restructure at IHG, I took a number of months off to pursue some 'bucket list' personal achievements. I then took on an interim role as Lead Counsel managing commercial and IP work within the Marketing, Media and IP team. My key projects were a Pay As You Go marketing and technical integration, EU-wide Three marketing campaigns and managing all intellectual property matters.

Lead lawyer supporting the European and Global Sales and Marketing division across all hotel brands, as well as the EMEA Restaurants & Bars team. Helping drive growth through loyalty. Supporting brand teams in major campaigns, advising on the creation of new brands, providing content, advertising, IP and general commercial advice. Negotiating complex commercial contracts, including corporate sales, distribution, agency, digital, technology, sponsorship and brand ambassador agreements. Supporting the Restaurants & Bars teams in the creation of new restaurant concepts and the roll out of managed and franchised restaurants. Managing IHG's intellectual property and litigation for Europe. Providing training at all levels on IP, contract and commercial issues. Being a key commercial business partner to the brand, marketing and sales teams.

Supporting all business units of the global De Beers group in intellectual property and commercial matters, which includes De Beers' diamond brand, Forevermark, downstream initiatives such as diamond grading and technology and at the retail end, the De Beers Diamond Jeweller stores.

Worked on both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters across an array of industry sectors, including fashion, film, theatre, interactive entertainment and telecommunications. Also a member of the Litigation, Advertising and Fashion groups.

Intellectual Property Associate, covering both contentious and non-contentious IP work.

Seats: Corporate M&A; Employment; Intellectual Property; Commercial/Media