easyJet
Andrew Winterton’s team advises on a host of contentious and non-contentious matters, ranging from M&A and competition to contract and consumer law. He manages the panel of UK-based legal advisers but also uses local firms in other jurisdictions, forming mini panels in countries where easyJet has a registered presence.
Associated British Ports
Andrew Garner heads the legal division of Britain’s largest port operator. He was appointed in 2005, and successfully navigated Associated British Ports through a multibillion-pound takeover in 2006 by a consortium of private investors, which included Goldman Sachs and Prudential.
International Group of P&I Clubs
As executive officer of International Group of P&I Clubs since 2006, Andrew Bardot is secretary of a body that insures 90% of the world’s oceangoing fleet. One private practitioner describes him as ‘one of the top private practitioners looking at things from the other side of the fence. After 25 years in private practice, he provides a very good perspective’.
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Sainsbury’s
Nick Grant created the Sainsbury’s Legal Community in 2011, which involves multiple firms collaborating to provide advice. Thirteen firms carry out 99% of Sainsbury’s externally sourced legal work, including Linklaters, Addleshaw Goddard, SNR Denton and Bond Dickinson.
Marks & Spencer Group
Robert Ivens qualified as a solicitor back in 1983. Two years later he joined Marks & Spencer Group and has been there ever since. The iconic retailer hit headlines in 2004 when Ivens helped fight off a £9.1bn bid to acquire it by multi-billionaire businessman Philip Green who owns some of the biggest retail brands on the high street.
Whitbread
With 21 years’ experience at Whitbread, Simon Barratt has been directly involved in some game-changing deals at the multinational hotel and restaurant company. One of the biggest was probably the de-merger and sale of 3,000 pubs in 2001 in a transaction worth £1.6bn that returned £1.1bn to its shareholders. He also steered the company through the acquisition of Premier Lodge in 2004 for £500m.
Associated British Foods
Described as ‘disarmingly charming, astute and always gets the commercial and legal picture’, Paul Lister runs a tight team of 40 lawyers spread across 47 countries worldwide, involved in a wide range of activities from retail to manufacturing. Associated British Foods’ brands include Primark, Twinings, Ovaltine, British Sugar, AB Mauri, Tip Top and Mazola.
John Lewis Partnership
Margaret Casely–Hayford wins praise from private practitioners for her evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, thinking. During her six years at the partnership, she introduced a more cost-efficient legal services model and effective governance and compliance framework for the business.
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Westfield Shoppingtowns
Leon Shelley’s first move out of private practice in 2000 as a banker at UBS Warburg was not well timed: he left just as the tech bubble burst. He returned to private practice before joining Westfield Shoppingtowns in 2005 as its first UK general counsel.
Ladbrokes
When Jonathan Adelman joined Ladbrokes in 2008, there was no internal legal team and a high external spend. In just four years, he transformed the gaming company’s in-house offering. The previous legal panel that was saturated with around 100 firms now has less than a dozen, reducing the typical spend of £8m-10m down to £4m-6m. He is particularly proud of his in-house team of six that he built from scratch.
