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

Over the past year, I have led Legal & Secretariat through significant transformation, positioning the function as a proactive enabler of the Group’s strategic priorities. By setting clear direction, empowering colleagues and teams and focusing on governance, legal risk, commercial acumen and customer outcomes, we have supported high-profile projects helping simplify, modernise and grow the business.

We supported the transition of the Halifax brand to Lloyds, simplifying the Group’s brand portfolio and creating a simpler customer experience. We helped navigate novel legal, regulatory and customer considerations, enabling delivery at pace while maintaining strong governance.

We played a critical role in the acquisition of Curve, strengthening the Group’s digital wallet and money management capabilities. We provided strategic legal, regulatory and governance advice, navigated complex commercial considerations and supported successful execution.

We enabled market-leading tokenised assets and blockchain-enabled financial products, including a UK-first use of tokenised real-world assets as collateral and the successful execution of tokenised deposits and gilts transactions. This helped move tokenisation from proof of concept to practical application, providing legal certainty around ownership, transfer and enforceability.

We led an innovative cross-sector initiative to repurpose frozen funds linked to suspected criminal activity for fraud prevention and victim support. Working with government, regulators and industry partners, we helped create a legally robust framework enabling £15m to be distributed to support fraud education, prevention and victim assistance, while influencing industry discussions around legislative reform.

Please provide a brief description of any internal transformation/development projects within your legal team over the last twelve months.

We are transforming Legal & Secretariat into a future ready, more agile, data-led and technology-enabled function. At the heart of that transformation are our people: building the skills, confidence and mindset needed to support the Group in a faster-changing environment.

The make-up of our function is evolving. Alongside deep legal and governance expertise, we are bringing in and developing more skills in technology, data, operations and change. We are also embracing more agile, skills-based ways of working, building versatility and flexibility across teams. Our lawyers are developing broader expertise across multiple areas, increasing resilience, capacity and responsiveness to evolving business priorities.

Technology and AI are important enablers of this shift. We have developed lawyer led self-service and AI-enabled tools for high-volume activities such as nondisclosure agreements and corporate governance queries, implemented and/or upgraded key external solutions and pioneered AI-enabled boardroom tools to support colleagues, executives and Boards throughout the governance lifecycle.

We have also mapped and automated key processes, including bespoke internalapps for horizon scanning and capacity planning, improving visibility of work, utilisation and forecasting.

Simplification has become a core part of our culture. Through the groupwide #SimplyLBG campaign, we encouraged colleagues across Legal & Secretariat to share practical examples of how they were simplifying work, removing duplication and making processes easier for colleagues and customers.

Building an inclusive, high-performing culture is central to our transformation. As Executive Ally for the Group’s social mobility programme, I have championed activity to widen access to in-house legal careers including through pioneering work experience programmes, while investing in mentoring, sponsorship, training and bespoke development programmes that help colleagues build fulfilling careers and perform at their best.

What are the most important attributes of the modern GC and what advice would you give to those aspiring to be an in-house lawyer?

Today’s GC must combine legal excellence with commercial judgement, strategic thinking, curiosity, strong leadership and a willingness to engage seriously with technology and the future of work. Modern legal and governance functions are being reshaped by AI, data, automation and changing colleague expectations, so GCs need to understand not only the legal implications of change, but how technology will transform the way their own teams operate and deliver value.

Modern GCs operate at the centre of their organisations, advising boards and executives on everything from regulatory change and governance to technology, culture and transformation. That requires the ability to simplify complexity, build trusted relationships and help organisations navigate uncertainty with confidence.

For those aspiring to an in-house career, my advice is to spend as much time understanding the business as the law. Be curious, ask questions, develop a broad commercial perspective and embrace opportunities outside your comfort zone. Stay close to developments in technology, markets and regulation, but remember that human skills – judgment, ethics, influence and the ability to build trust – will become even more valuable. These are the skills that will continue to differentiate exceptional lawyers.

How do you use AI within your legal team to improve efficiency while maintaining quality, governance and integrity? How do you think AI will impact in-house legal functions more widely?

We see AI as an opportunity to augment legal expertise. Within Legal & Secretariat, we use AI-enabled tools to support drafting, summarisation, research, knowledge retrieval and workflow activities, allowing lawyers to spend more time on complex judgement-based work.

Importantly, our approach is built on strong governance. Our AI solutions are designed by internal or external experts, utilise approved content sources and operate within clearly defined guardrails, with human oversight remaining essential to ensuring that legal judgement, accountability and professional standards are maintained.

More broadly, AI will enable legal functions to become more strategic, data-driven and scalable. However, the greatest value will come from organisations that invest equally in governance, skills, change management and responsible adoption.

Beyond your legal role, is there a cause or initiative you are especially passionate about?

Social mobility has been important to me throughout my career.The legal profession has made significant progress in opening opportunities to people from a wider range of backgrounds, but there is still more to do. I am passionate about helping talented individuals access opportunities regardless of their circumstances and ensuring that organisations benefit from the breadth of perspectives that greater diversity brings.

At Lloyds Banking Group, I am proud to support initiatives that encourage broader access to professional careers and help colleagues build successful and fulfilling careers. I have also been involved in mentoring and sponsorship activities throughout my career and have long championed inclusion and diversity within the organisation.

More recently, I was appointed as a Forestry Commissioner and Director of Forestry England. This role reflects my interest in sustainability, stewardship and the responsible management of natural resources for future generations.

Whether through social mobility, inclusion or public service, I believe leadership brings a responsibility to create opportunities for others and contribute positively to the communities we serve.