Steering Committee 2026

Sabine Chalmers, general counsel, BT
Sabine Chalmers is the General Counsel, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Company Secretary of BT Group Plc. BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services. It also provides managed telecommunications, security and network and IT infrastructure services to customers across 180 countries.

Matt Wilson, general counsel, Fremantle
Matt is group general counsel at global content producer Fremantle. Fremantle produces over 12,000 hours of original programming every year across drama, entertainment, documentaries and film. He joined Fremantle in August 2021 and sits on the global board. Prior to Fremantle, Matt was general counsel for EMEA & APAC for Uber, and previously held roles at Telefonica o2, The Arsenal Football Club and Baker McKenzie.

Helen Barraclough, group GC, Smith & Nephew
Helen Barraclough is Group General Counsel, Company Secretary and Chief Risk Officer at Smith + Nephew. Helen has extensive experience navigating complex regulatory landscapes, providing strategic support to growth strategies and driving a high-performance culture. Helen’s other inhouse experience includes senior positions in WPP and Nomura International plc.

Andrew Yorston, general counsel, Vodafone
Andy Yorston joined Vodafone in 2010 and became general counsel for Vodafone UK in 2021 having previously held positions as head of legal and head of risk and compliance.  Prior to joining Vodafone he was a commercial litigator at Eversheds Sutherland.

Nicki Schroeder, group GC, Reach
Nicki is group general counsel at Reach Plc, the largest newspaper publishing group in the United Kingdom, including household names such as The Mirror, The Express and OK magazine. The group also has publications in the Republic of Ireland and the US. Nicki manages a team of 20 employed  legal and data protection specialists, supported by an additional ten freelance prepublication lawyers providing out of hours editorial legal cover to our publications.

Mark Gregory, general counsel, Rolls-Royce
Mark Gregory was appointed General Counsel at Rolls Royce in 2015, Mark has over twenty years of legal, regulatory, risk, compliance and governance experience and has been a member of the Executive Team ay Rolls Royce for nearly ten years. Before this role, Mark held various positions in the Group, most recently as Head of Legal and Commercial.Before joining Rolls-Royce in 2005, Mark trained and practiced at Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) in London and Hong Kong.

Huma Allana van Reesch, GC, EMEA, Starbucks
Huma Allana van Reesch sits as EMEA general counsel at Starbucks, leading a team that covers 42 markets and handles regulatory challenges, crisis and risk management while implementing strategic priorities for the group. Huma has extensive in-house experience, especially in the retail, consumer goods and health sectors, having previously worked for the likes of Coca-Cola Enterprises and Reckitt.

Stuart Brown, GC, Bupa UK
Stuart joined Bupa in February 2018 as General Counsel, UK. Stuart was formerly General Counsel and Company Secretary at Guardian Financial Services Holdings before that he was Group Legal Director at Friends Life plc. Stuart has also held senior legal counsel positions at Swiss Re (Admin Re UK) and GE Insurance Solutions. Stuart trained and qualified into the Corporate Insurance team at Clifford Chance.

Jeremy Mavor, UK GC, National Grid
Jeremy Mavor is an experienced and commercially focused executive, serving as UK general counsel to the National Grid, a position he has held since 2023. Jeremy Mavor has experience leading various transactions and initiatives from start to finish. Jeremy began his legal career at legacy firm Allen & Overy, moving in-house in 2013 to the data and content company Arqiva, where he held a number of leadership positions.

Harriet Gallagher-Powell, GC (Group Corporate), Legal & General
Harriet Gallagher-Powell is the General Counsel for Corporate & M&A and Deputy Group Company Secretary at Legal & General Group plc. Harriet leads a team of experts providing group-wide legal and governance advice on mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, UK listed plc matters, corporate structuring and regulatory interactions.

As General Counsel – Corporate & M&A, Harriet leads on the legal execution of high-value, strategically significant transactions for the Group. Most recently, she played a central role in Legal & General’s divestment of its US protection business to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company, and the establishment of a strategic partnership with Meiji Yasuda in US pension risk transfer, for $2.3bn – a major cross-border transaction aligned with the Group’s strategic focus on its core growth markets.

In her capacity as Deputy Group Company Secretary, Harriet leads the company secretarial team in the delivery of best-in-class corporate governance across the FTSE 100-listed financial services group. She acts as secretary to the Legal & General Group plc board and advises executive management and the PRA and FCA-regulated boards on governance, corporate structure, regulatory developments and shareholder matters.

Harriet started her legal career as a corporate M&A lawyer at Slaughter and May where she advised on complex multi-jurisdictional M&A transactions, listed corporate governance and cross-border regulatory investigations.

Blair Parker, Head of Legal Services UK and Ireland, DHL
Head of Legal Services UK and Ireland at DHL, Blair Parker has held various leadership roles at the global shipping and courier service since 2013. Blair has been instrumental in shaping the companies legal framework to ensure compliance, mitigate risk and enhancing operational efficiencies. Blair has previously worked for the likes of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Royal Mail and AkzoNobel.

Stephanie Lopes, chief legal officer, Volt
Stephanie trained at Bird & Bird London for a decade, where she assisted with a wide range of commercial matters with a focus on data commercialisation and governance, IT and technology. She has significant experience and a good understanding of the issues in these areas, having undertaken several in-house secondments at headquarters of some of the world’s largest companies. She is now chief legal officer at Volt, an open banking payments scale up.

Daniel Winterfeldt, GC, EMEA and Asia, Jeffries
Daniel Winterfeldt is the General Counsel for EMEA and Asia at Jefferies. He is a senior corporate and securities lawyer with over 25 years of experience in London and New York.

Daniel founded the Forum for US Securities Lawyers in London in 2006 to address US securities issues in the London market across law firms, banks, and intermediaries.

In 2008, Daniel founded the InterLaw Diversity Forum to promote meritocracy and inclusion for all diverse, under-represented, and socially disadvantaged groups in the legal sector. Since its founding in 2008 the InterLaw Diversity Forum has expanded its scope beyond LGBT+ to encompass all strands of diversity and inclusion, including Race & Ethnicity, Disability, Gender, and social mobility, with a particular focus on cultural change in the workplace and ‘multiple identities’/intersectionality. The InterLaw Diversity Forum currently has more than 9,000 members and supporters from over 300 law firms and chambers, and over 500 corporates and financial institutions.

In 2020 Daniel was appointed Queen’s Counsel Honoris Causa (Honorary QC) for his contributions to capital markets in England & Wales through the Forum for US Securities Lawyers in London and for his contributions to diversity, inclusion, and culture in the legal sector through the InterLaw Diversity Forum; and was awarded The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for “Services to Capital Markets, to Equality and to Diversity in the Legal Profession”.

Lesley Wan, Founder & CEO, The Eagle Club