About

One of the premier alcoholic distillers in the world, and until April 2017 the largest alcoholic beverage company globally by market capitalisation, UK-headquartered Diageo boasts an enviable range of brands. Particularly well known among these are the Johnnie Walker whiskey, Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum product lines, which are top sellers around the world. The company’s operation in Colombia has been one of their most successful performers globally, and posted exceptionally strong revenue growth figures of 28% for the year preceding June 2016. Diageo Colombia is therefore a tightly-run operation with its legal team being no exception. Led by director of legal and compliance Ignacio Gomez, who is a member of the board of directors and the executive committee alongside his legal role, the Diageo Colombia legal team has a broad remit. As well as providing the full range of legal services to all business units of the company wherever possible, the team deals with company matters relating to IP and provides the benefit of their business insight to inform company strategy. As such, the Diageo Colombia legal team is an excellent example of a legal team that takes its role as a business advisor seriously, and combines this with its legal function effectively to create tangible added value to the company as a whole.