Team size: 6

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

Over the past 12 months, I have led and supported numerous strategic initiatives spanning commercial, regulatory, and sustainability, while fostering a collaborative, high-performing legal team.

Tate & Lyle Sugars (TLS) occupies a pivotal position in the UK sugar market, anchored by its historic Silvertown refinery in London, one of World’s largest cane sugar facilities, and its iconic Golden Syrup factory. Our leading brands, Tate & Lyle and Lyle’s Golden Syrup, operate in a landscape defined by intense competition, regulatory scrutiny, shifting consumer demands, and global trade pressures.

In October 2024, TLS completed the acquisition of a packing business in the retail sector from French-owned Tereos UK. The deal took 20 months, with the final 14 dedicated to securing Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) consent. The CMA’s primary concern was the market impact of a ‘3-to-2’ scenario — where Tereos’ exit might leave TLS and British Sugar with disproportionate pricing power.

The Phase 1 review, which I led, lasted nine months, involving rigorous document disclosure, formal legal submissions, and scrutiny of senior management. Upon referral to Phase 2, our small legal team undertook a monumental effort, ultimately leading to an unconditional clearance in September 2024. For context, over 1000 mergers were considered by the CMA last year, only six went to Phase 2 and only two were cleared unconditionally.

The acquisition protected over 50 jobs at the Normanton site, and the emotional response from employees at our post-completion Townhall meeting underscored the human impact of this work. This transaction, and other strategic projects like it, have helped position the legal team as fully embedded in TLS’s commercial and operational success. We were finalists in The Lawyer 2025 In-House Legal Team of the Year and are seen by our President as a benchmark function—proactive, collaborative, and forward-thinking.

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

I believe the most important attributes of modern in-house counsel are flexibility, supportiveness, and commerciality. My team culture reflects that. Two senior lawyers work part-time — one remotely from Prague while supporting her family on secondment, the other balancing her role with also working for a law firm. Another lawyer is on maternity leave, returning on an agile schedule. I’m deeply invested in the development of our junior lawyers. One colleague began with us as a paralegal and completed their solicitor training in-house, qualifying last year after a secondment I arranged at a corporate law firm. Our current paralegal is undertaking SQE exams, and I’ve committed to funding 90% of his qualification costs.

I lead a program where Senior lawyers regularly deliver whiteboard training sessions, complemented by input from internal stakeholders and external counsel. Financial sustainability is also a key priority for me. We assess over 20 external advisors annually across four metrics, with each team member scoring firms they’ve worked with. We review results collectively and often part ways with the lowest performing 10%, ensuring value and excellence across our engagements. To nurture an amiable, united culture, we hold regular team-building activities — highlighted by our annual away day aboard my small boat on the River Thames. These moments of camaraderie are as valuable as boardroom strategy sessions.

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how can general counsel contribute to driving such initiatives within the organisation?

Sustainability and ethical governance are central to our legal focus. I work closely with commercial teams to mitigate impacts of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy, which has reduced demand in the beverage segment, and to support agile, compliant solutions in the face of shifting consumer preferences toward low-calorie sweeteners. Our Silvertown refinery is the largest gas consumer within the M25. Legal must support decarbonisation planning and facilitate investment in energy-efficient infrastructure such as carbon capture and other innovative solutions. I actively collaborate with key stakeholders to shape viable, compliant sustainability projects. Globally, we tackle ethical and environmental risks across our cane sugar supply chain, spanning Brazil, Africa and Asia. This includes deforestation, labour practices, and compliance with global standards — partnering with organisations such as Fairtrade to ensure transparency and responsible sourcing. In all that we do, the legal team serves as a strategic partner — not just gatekeeper. I aim to enable TLS to grow with integrity, resilience and purpose, rooted in a legal function that embraces challenge with optimism and clarity.