In early 2017, BAE Systems chief executive Ian King announced he would be retiring after nearly a decade in charge of the global defence giant. The company simultaneously confirmed that its chief operating officer, Charles Woodburn, would take on the top job from 1 July, having joined the company less than a year earlier. The ensuing management restructuring came with a huge amount of employment law work, led by BAE’s head of labour law, Victoria Halliday. Group GC Philip Bramwell is full of praise for his Australian employment head, who has simultaneously been leading the first phase of BAE’s GDPR compliance. He comments: ‘Victoria has just had an enormous workload over the last year. Of the number of lawyers that I worry are doing too many hours, Victoria is up there.’