Team size: 3

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

At the end of January, we announced a long-term strategic partnership in the US with Molson Coors. This comprised of a long-term license agreement for the exclusive sales, distribution and production of Fever-Tree in the US, Molson Coors buying an 8.5% stake of newly-issued equity in Fever-Tree, and the sale of our US operating subsidiary to Molson Coors to enable the transition. We simultaneously announced a share buyback of £100m. Suffice to say, balancing the many limbs of the transaction with a busy day job for a small team meant that Q4 and January, in particular, were busy times. A few productive, tiring, but, most importantly, enjoyable trips to Chicago to visit our new partners will live long in the memory.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

I worked on the takeover of SABMiller by AB InBev during my practice days for over a year; it’s still the largest takeover of a UK plc. Without wishing to sound too cliched, as a junior M&A lawyer, working with brilliant lawyers on a deal that was front page news was probably a once-in-a-lifetime situation. Like all things in life, I wish I had appreciated that more at the time, but I was quite busy… I’m pretending Covid is not an appropriate answer to this question.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

Emotional intelligence and a strong sense of ethics. There are plenty of other weapons needed in the arsenal, and I’m taking technical knowledge as a given, but I think, with those two at front of mind, you have a good chance of being successful and impactful in the right way. I just started reading a book about good judgement (and how that is different from decision making) which I’m enjoying, and I suspect by the end might make it onto my list too.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I competed for Team GB at the Olympic Games in 2008 at fencing and have recently gotten back involved in the sport as an independent non-executive director at British Fencing, the national governing body. I’m already finding it extremely rewarding working with my board colleagues and the Exec team to try and help a smaller sport achieve success and I’m learning a lot along the way. I’m due to spend a few weekends at sports halls dotted around the UK later in the year, as well as visiting a few clubs, which is already making me nostalgic for my teenage years. If anyone with a passing interest can find footage from the Paris Olympics, I hope they will see some of my fascination with the sport. Roll on LA 2028.