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During her five years as Omnia’s legal head, Celeste Appollis has driven forward its transformation from a non-compliant level to reaching at the third-highest achievable.

The company was ranked fifth in the CSI category of The Sunday Times’ Top 100 companies. ‘When I assumed responsibility for the role, the department’s structure and systems were fairly rudimentary’, Appollis says.

Among the most significant changes she made was the merging of legal and company secretarial functions. She also tripled its manpower to the nine-strong team across legal, compliance and administration she currently leads, and devised comprehensive processes and documentation.

Appollis has been praised for her effective handling of a number complex technical issues, including a successful rights offer to fund a significant capital project.

‘I am very fortunate in that I work with an executive team that, although they may challenge me as in-house counsel in terms of delivery times, are fully supportive of the work we do’, Appollis says. ‘In particular, I have a very strong and supportive board and group executive, which helps me in fulfilling my responsibilities’.