Team size: Ten

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Until August 2021, we were a FTSE-250 public company listed on the London Stock Exchange, before being acquired by and becoming a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. As a large public-to-private transaction with both UK and Irish elements, this was an extremely significant transaction for the company and its shareholders, and during this important transaction, our team received great support throughout from our external legal, broking, and investment banking teams. We also had some interesting challenges along the way, ranging from plentiful media and press coverage, the appearance of well-known activists on our share register during the bid and novel issues relating to the new (post-CREST) securities settlement system for Irish plc’s and finally, a slightly protracted scheme or arrangement process with the Irish High Court.

What impact did the pandemic have on your business?

We have two major divisions, one of which involved in the commercial and clinical packaging of medicines was classified as an essential service early during the pandemic. In this business, an immediate impact was felt as we tried to manage our workforce, adjust shift patterns to reduce contact and establish pods to ensure that our packaging lines kept running, all against the backdrop of increasing case numbers and absenteeism. Most of the businesses in our other division were relatively insulated, being able to flip almost immediately into remote working. However, certain business units more reliant on face-to-face activities, for example, sales team auditing, and our healthcare events business, were more severely impacted. Overall, however, the highly diversified nature of the group’s business meant that it was quite resilient to the effects of the pandemic and indeed resulted in an overall increase in our business.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

Similar to many other regions, I expect to see the role evolving to a long-term hybrid and remote one. As in private practice, this not only presents certain challenges as regards mentoring as well as practical on-site development, but also provides great flexibility and potentially greater work-life balance. However, importantly, I think that the in-house role will also evolve and expand to interact more closely with or indeed even cover an increasing numbers of risk areas. Our business is not alone in bringing legal, risk, and sustainability functions closer together. From a risk management perspective, this is only positive, especially for commercially minded lawyers keen to look at group-wide risks and their inter-relationship more broadly, particularly in areas such as information security and the environment. In short, it is a great opportunity for lawyers to broaden their experience and sphere of influence, helping them better protect their organisations.