About

Team size: approximately 70 lawyers, company secretaries and administration staff

Major legal advisers: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; CMS; Linklaters; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Hogan Lovells; Clyde & Co; Pinsents; Burness Paull

What are the most important transactions and litigations that you have been involved in during the last year?

The acquisition ReAssure Life making Phoenix a FTSE 60 company, resetting the strategic relationship with our strategic partner, StandardLife Aberdeen including the purchase of the Standard Life brand and the signing of a material (£2bn) de-risking transaction with the trustees of a Phoenix final salary pension scheme.

How have you maintained your team’s cohesion when you have been unable to see them face-to-face as regularly as usual?

My leadership team and I responded by significantly increasing the level of contact with the team. Some VCs focused on wellbeing, others on practical aspects of working from home. We encouraged time to call someone you had not spoken with and check-ins. We increased virtual social events and held a two day Virtual Offsite which brought our teams together to listen to business speakers and participate in round tables.

Has working from home inspired any innovation in terms of the way you and your team work? Are there any standout products you now use that you did not before?

DocuSign has been a key tech delivery for us and it was great that we got to showcase that as the business moved into lockdown.

Even in the best-case scenario, Covid-19 is likely to have far-reaching ramifications. How are you safeguarding the long-term health of the business?

I am a sponsor of Phoenix’s mental health network, Mind Matters. Mind Matters has been very active destigmatising mental health and providing practical support for colleagues. Examples are the availability of mental health first aiders and mental health awareness training. A number of “Behind the Mask” events have been held in which colleagues (including our Group CEO) have talked to small groups about their encounters and struggles with mental health. These have been very powerful.

We have also worked with some of our legal supplies to provide webinars on subjects that support health and wellbeing, for example working with Herbert Smith to provide a webinar on resilience.

How has the Brexit withdrawal agreement affected your business’ relationship with Europe, and are there any areas that you think future agreements should pay attention to?

We have a European insurance business. This was restructured ahead of Brexit by means of a subsidiarisation. Further work is ongoing to transfer European policies to our Irish subsidiary. Many aspects of our agreements are changing to adjust to Brexit including data sharing and derivatives.