About

Team size: 2
Major law firms used: Charles Russell Speechlys, Keystone Law, mpm legal, Shoosmiths, Travers Smith

Anna Cosgrave has not looked back after swapping a high-flying M&A role at Addleshaw Goddard for snack food provider graze in 2016.

That is not to diminish the challenge of her in-house role. As the head of legal at a fast-paced start-up, Cosgrave has had to become a jack of all trades. Throughout 2018 she has had to handle facets of intellectual property, commercial and real estate work, as graze conducted acquisitions and entered new markets. And now, with news in February 2019 that private equity house The Carlyle Group has sold graze to Unilever, things may change dramatically again.

Founded in 2008, graze originally operated an exclusively direct-to-customer model, delivering its signature range of foods to consumers’ doorsteps. In 2015, it adopted a more retail-focused model, with the likes of Sainsbury’s and Boots stocking its products.

This has brought new legal implications for the company – graze has launched litigation against Lidl for allegedly producing what Cosgrave terms ‘copycat punnets’ of its health snacks. Cosgrave has enlisted Keystone Law to fight in graze’s corner and she has a real affinity for the products she is defending: ‘The quality of product is exceptional here. There’s a massive market for it. I would find it hard to work for a company where I wasn’t this passionate about our product.’

On the real estate side, Cosgrave was heavily involved as graze bought out Marshfield Bakery in the Cotswolds. It previously created graze’s signature lemon-drizzle flapjacks and protein bites but has now been fully incorporated into the business.

For Cosgrave, the key to getting the best out of the wider business is to make them feel included. She concludes: ‘I try to make sure people are given enough responsibility and decent timelines to work within. I will have regular meetings with the team to make sure they are on the right track. When you properly delegate you make people feel like part of the solution.’