About

Team size: 160
Major law firms used: Baker McKenzie, Herbert Smith Freehills

Simon Farrant at Johnson Matthey is described as an ‘under the radar’ GC. ‘He’s forward thinking and championed flexible working in his team long before it was fashionable to do so,’ says Stephen Wilkinson, a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills.

Farrant’s legal career has been largely shaped by the 25 years he has spent at Johnson Matthey: ‘I joined the business in 1994 as senior legal adviser, but I’ve known Johnson Matthey since the late 1980s – they were a client when I worked at Taylor Wessing.’

The last two decades have seen the business shift its focus from selling precious metals to marketing ceramics and electrical products. Farrant has grown a substantial legal team nearing 160 lawyers and 20 staff working in a compliance and ethics team. Instilling best practice around health and safety procedures in the workplace is a priority for a large company. ‘[Our] employees sometimes do dangerous work on manufacturing processes, so we all play a role in creating a culture where people can speak out if there’s a problem, even if it halts production,’ Farrant says.

The legal team also spends a fair amount of time protecting the company’s intellectual property, while an important market the company has evolved into in recent years is clean air and emissions control technologies. ‘There is regulatory guidance to be observed here because Johnson Matthey and others in the market are trying to provide solutions to meeting emissions standards, which are mandated by legislation. I don’t do any lobbying myself but lobbying does go on in this area.’

Last year, Johnson Matthey sold its automotive battery systems business to power generation manufacturer Cummins, before the two formed a strategic partnership to develop battery technology. ‘My lawyers have to move quickly in this competitive market and the team has to be good to do business with. The company partners up a lot and we play our role in renewing and maintaining those partnerships.’