Team size: 350  

What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

In June this year, we completed the ground-breaking merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK and became VodafoneThree. This was a culmination of years of work between various teams across Vodafone and Three with our legal team playing a key role. The Vodafone/Three merger represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity, delivering £11bn of investment in UK’s telecoms infrastructure, which will propel the UK from its current challenger position to the forefront of European mobile connectivity. My team and I worked closely with Group colleagues and many stakeholders to strategically progress the CMA case, respond to multiple CMA requests for information and provide tens of thousands of documents to support the case for regulatory clearance. 

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how can general counsel contribute to driving such initiatives within the organisation?

VodafoneThree’s strategy continues to be directly linked to sustainability, and we have a team dedicated to sustainable business, which ensures inclusion for all; that commercial success doesn’t come at a cost to the environment; and that we are supporting a digital society. This year, my team, alongside the sustainable business team, National Parks UK and a partner university, have built a multiyear strategic partnership – Nature Connect – with the aim of enhancing nature connectedness and nature itself across 15 National Parks. At the forefront of this partnership is an exciting project focusing on AI Habitat Mapping of the habitats of the National Parks UK to help plan nature recovery and reverse declines in species diversity and fragmentation of habitats. My team led on the collaborative negotiations to ensure the success of the programme. I support these initiatives by endorsing sustainable business and encouraging my team to feel empowered to be bold enough to identify and support projects that ensure we continue to play our part in supporting sustainability.  

How do you prioritise diversity and inclusion within your legal department, and what initiatives have you implemented to foster a more inclusive work environment?

We have developed strategic key pillars, which are linked to our UK strategy and truly represent what our values are as a function. Our people lead these pillars, focusing on purpose, collaboration, communication, diversity & inclusion, and well-being. The pillars enable two-way communication between my function, my Leadership Team and me. I have supported the Diversity & Inclusion team to consider what is important to them and to hold events, which are valuable to the whole team. They have hosted events on Ramadan, Adoption awareness, Allyship and are working towards recognising Social Mobility with a reinvented Work Experience programme and supporting local students in their own career aspirations. I have also set up a community of Leaders and Influencers to set the right cultural tone and drive increased accountability and decision-making within my function. The Leaders and Influencers Community has enabled our leaders to build senior level connections across the function, growing their networks and enhancing their relationships (and their ability to engage the right people at the right time in their day-to-day work). It has also provided a psychologically safe space to access leadership training and resources, as well as enabling them to work together to solve some of the common problems we encounter across the function. Finally, I consider inclusivity when looking at the day-to-day running of the function, an example of this is recognising that not everyone can attend the office for events such as our All Hands. I ensure that there is an opportunity to attend meetings virtually and create an environment where those who are virtual don’t miss out on feeling part of the team.