Company Secretarial and Governance

General Counsel and Company Secretary for Arriva PLC, a multinational transport service provider.

Successfully designed, built and led a large central department of lawyers and managers with responsibility for legal support to Global Operations, Procurement, Marketing, Leaf, IT, Product and R&D functions and to Regional legal staff. Reported to Group GC with Board level engagement through membership of the Global Legal, Marketing and Operations teams. Managed the provision of legal services into a wide variety of decision makers in the commercial centre of the business at lower cost and with improved efficiency. Achieved via successful implementation of re-designed Group IP strategy, new ways of working with external counsel, aggregation and standardisation of activity to better leverage resources and contract management systems. Delivered through a team of connected and motivated commercial lawyers. Completed several commercial and functional transformations including the combination of regional supply chains, factory rationalisation, redesign of global procurement and leaf functions. Completed several commercial transactions including IT outsourcing, contract manufacturing, distribution, technology transfer, IP acquisition and licensing, marketing services and leaf purchase.Led the Global Antitrust and IP practices. Director of various group companies.

Led a team of 40 lawyers and managers with responsibility for legal, security and anti smuggling activity in a business of 10,000 employees delivering over GBP 1.0 bn to Group profit. Member of Regional leadership Team and Global legal management team. Successfully redesigned European legal function improving morale, ways of working and talent pipeline. Established and led antitrust strategy and practice group. Managed successful compliance with EU directive across all manufacturing and sales activity in EU Europe.

Based in Dubai with responsibility for legal, security and anti smuggling activity across 19 challenging markets. Led a team of 12 lawyers and managers. Settled multi-million dollar distributor rationalisation. Completed distribution deal in Iran. Restructured UAE and Saudi Arabian businesses. Established on-shore distribution hub in Bahrain. Operated UK owned business in Iran in compliance with sanctions. Managed security of all Middle East based staff during a period of instability driven by Iraq war.

Managed legal issues across markets in western Europe. Member of Regional Operations leadership team as the operations division was built under new management.Responsible for all legal issues arising from operations and supply chain activity in Europe. Managed legal, communications and change management issues arising from the planning and execution of a major factory footprint rationalisation across several geographies which completed without industrial unrest. Managed a small team of lawyers and communications managers.

Responsible for legal counsel to the Marketing, Trade Marketing and External Affairs teams of the US subsidiary company of BAT, then the number three player in the US market.

First top team role joining the management board for the UK and Ireland with responsibility for Legal and Corporate affairs. This included setting up a legal department post merger of parent companies. Corporate affairs was added to the portfolio. Completed a major restructuring and subsequent right sizing of the business.

Responsible for M&A and investment projects in several jurisdictions predominantly Eastern Europe and Asia including acquisition of state owned company in Eastern Europe, technical cooperation in China, commercial ventures in Asia.

Six years of great private practice experience with Clifford Chance in London and in Hong Kong. This included M&A, UK rail privatisation, joint ventures, commercial transactions, IP management, commercial secondment, contracts and antitrust.

Articled Clerk to a shipping law firm in london and in Hong Kong. This included ship and aircraft finance, M&A, commercial contacts and litigation experience.