About

Sinead Gillen is in charge of a compact team focussed on managing the legal risk of Irish co-operative society Dairygold, Ireland’s largest farmer-owned dairy business, which processes approximately 960 million litres of milk each year. Despite challenges related to headcount, which Gillen says are ‘not always compatible with demand’, the tangible results the legal team has delivered are extremely impressive. Gillen points to outcomes that can be measured in terms of cost reductions and savings alongside the reduction in risk liability, mainly achieved through the introduction of policies and standardised processes. Demonstrating excellent business acumen the team has sought to improve its working knowledge of specific data protection awareness, whilst acknowledging and mitigating the risk of claims via ‘management and containment of employers’ liability and public liability claims’, resulting in ‘significant’ cost savings and reduction in claims culture. Described as a ‘source of comfort and support’ for the Dairygold business, the legal staff at Dairygold are happy to be pragmatic where necessary, recognising the need to outsource work and manage the relevant outsourced costs.