Q4 2025
By Lucy Morris
The 2025 data shows a measured but active year for senior in-house legal moves and promotions across the UK, with strong early-year activity and an expected slowdown in Q4. Movement was shaped less by expansionary hiring and more by targeted senior appointments, internal promotions, and selective exits from private practice, reflecting broader caution across hiring in the UK.
Total recorded activity reached 902 senior moves and promotions in 2025, down on the intensity of peak post-pandemic years but broadly promising, relative to 2024.
- Q1 (267) Q2 (217) and Q3 (259) were the strongest quarters, indicating pent-up demand released either at the start of the year or after delayed decision-making at the end of 2024. Historically, Q2 and Q3 have been the busiest quarters; however, 2025 showed a stable level throughout the majority of the year.
- Q4 (159) dropped materially, consistent with year-end business, internal slowdowns, and deferred searches until the new year.
Moves from Private Practice
While private practice remains a feeder pool, transitioning in-house at senior level is becoming harder without prior in-house exposure, particularly outside transactional or regulatory-heavy roles.
Moves from private practice remained a small but consistent proportion of overall activity:
- Private practice exits peaked in Q2 2025 (23) and Q3 2025 (18).
- Q4 saw a sharp fall (5), aligning with reduced overall hiring.
- In every quarter, the majority of hires were already in-house, reinforcing that senior roles increasingly require proven internal stakeholder and business experience.
Promotions vs moves
Typically, promotions run in annual rounds, so we often see uneven splits between moves and promotions. Comparing 2024 and 2025, the percentage variance between promotions and moves is similar, indicating no change in appetite to promote internally instead of hiring externally.
- Q1 and Q3 were promotion-heavy, particularly Q3, which recorded 148 promotions versus 115 moves. This points to organisations doubling down on internal succession planning.
- By Q4, both moves and promotions slowed, with no late-year acceleration, as expected.
Annual Sector Analysis
Choose the sector on the chart below
Technology
Technology remained the most active sector overall, peaking in Q1 (51) and Q3 (38) before falling (as predicted) in Q4 (16). This trajectory mirrors the wider tech market: sustained demand for senior in-house capability (data, AI, regulatory, product) alongside tighter headcount control and fewer senior exits later in the year.
Financial Services & Insurance
Financial Services maintained high figures, with an expected reduction at the end of the year (49 in Q1, down to 22 in Q4). Insurance followed a similar pattern, peaking in Q3. This reflects:
- Regulatory workload remaining high, but
- Fewer leadership changes once key compliance and governance gaps were filled.
Energy, Infrastructure & Industrials
These sectors continue to acknowledge legal as a risk and delivery function, particularly around ESG, procurement, and long-term projects, but hiring remained episodic rather than continuous.
Consumer, Media & Leisure
Consumer Goods and FMCG was one of the most consistent sectors, with steady volumes across all quarters. Entertainment, Media, Sport and Gaming remained active throughout the year, reflecting ongoing IP, commercial and regulatory complexity, particularly in digital and content-driven businesses. Those businesses with a prominent tech-element, including e-commerce and online-focused stores or websites, sustained this sector, and traditional retail continues to struggle.
Public, Charity and Education
Charity, education and public sector bodies showed low but stable activity, often driven by individual leadership changes rather than structural growth.
List of market moves Q4 2025
Sectors
- Biotechnology, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
- Charities and Social Enterprise
- Construction, Engineering and Real Estate
- Consultancies and Professional Services
- Consumer Goods and Retail
- Design Services and Advertising
- Education and Museums
- Energy, sustainability and Utilities
- Financial Services
- Fintech
- Government Administration and Regulators
- Hospitality and Travel
- Infrastructure, Logistics and Transportation
- Insurance
- Investment, VC and PE
- Manufacturing and Mining
- Technology
- Telecommunications
Biotechnology, Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
Ben Mabbott has been appointed to Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Optima Health (OH&W) from their previous role as General Counsel & Company Secretary at NRA Healthcare.
Claire Solk has been appointed to General Counsel at CorpAcq from their previous role as CLO and Company Secretary at Redx Pharma.
Michael Atkinson has been appointed to Head of Legal and Compliance North-West EMEA at Arthrex from their previous role as Senior Counsel at Vantive.
Sarah Findlay has been appointed to Head of Legal at Cleveland Clinic London from their previous role as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Schoen Clinic.
Amanda Hurry has been promoted to Legal Director UK, Ireland and Nordics at Bristol Myers Squibb from their previous role as Legal Director, UK.
Leo Neves has been promoted to Group Legal Director – Corporate at IVC Evidensia from their previous role as Group Corporate Counsel.
Maxine Finding has been promoted to Deputy General Counsel at Norstella from their previous role as Head of Commercial Legal.
Sally Reynolds has been promoted to Group Legal Director at IVC Evidensia from their previous role as Senior Commercial counsel.
Sunena Stoneham has been promoted to General Counsel, Company Secretary and DPO at Voyage Care from their previous role as Legal Director, DPO and Company Secretary.
Charities and Social Enterprise
Jo Mahmood has been appointed to Head of Legal Services at Incommunities from their previous role as Head of Governance and Legal Services at Accent Group.
Louise H. has been appointed to Head of Legal at Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) from their previous role as Senior Solicitor at PwC.
Runa Basit has been appointed to Assistant Director Corporate Governance at Poplar HARCA from their previous role as Head of Governance, Compliance and Risk at Orion Education.
Stella Caram Abduch has been appointed to Head of Legal at Foxglove from their previous role as Regulatory Manager at British Red Cross.
Bianca Guimaraes-Chadwick has been promoted to General Counsel at NEAR Foundation from their previous role as Associate General Counsel.
Carla Humphreys has been promoted to Head of Legal & Governance at Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) from their previous role as Legal Counsel.
Georgina Godby has been promoted to Head of Legal & Risk at BirdLife International from their previous role as Legal & Risk Manager.
Pritesh Dave has been promoted to Director of Legal at Notting Hill Genesis from their previous role as Head of Legal Services.
Construction, Engineering and Real Estate
Daniel Gwynn has been appointed to General Counsel at Knight Dragon (ExCom) from their previous role as Legal Consultant at Network Rail.
Sam Blayer has been appointed to Head of Legal at Hoare Lea from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel at Rotork.
Stephanie Beat has been appointed to General Counsel at MARCH from their previous role as Legal and Compliance Director at Certas Energy.
Terry Styant has been appointed to General Counsel at BAM UK & Ireland from their previous role as Associate General Counsel at Balfour Beatty.
Joao Maria Mota de Campos has been appointed to Legal Director at EQT Real Estate from their previous role as Associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Martin Brown has been appointed to General Counsel at Arora Group from their previous role as Partner at CMS.
Nick Bradley-Watson has been appointed to Head of Legal and Compliance at DTZ Investors from their previous role as Senior Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer.
Becky Rowell has been promoted to Legal Director at Multiplex from their previous role as Head of Legal.
Sarah Brown has been promoted to Group Head of Legal at The King’s Cross Group from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Sofia Gretton has been promoted to Senior Legal Director at AtkinsRealis from their previous role as Legal Director.
Consultancies and Professional Services
Joseph Ford has been promoted to Legal Director (Digital & Data Regulation) at KPMG UK from their previous role as Privacy Counsel.
Kate Aird has been promoted to Partner, International Office of General Counsel at KPMG International from their previous role as Director.
Matteo Passero has been appointed to Director – Corporate Governance at Sodali & Co from their previous role as Corporate Governance Lead at UBS.
Rahima Mofozzil has been appointed to Legal Director, EMEA at Magnit from their previous role as Senior Commercial and Employment Laywer at Hays.
Sara Mackie has been appointed to General Counsel at JMAN Group from their previous role as General Counsel at Elida Beauty.
Sarah Thornhill Weekes has been promoted to Head of Legal at Delinian from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Consumer Goods and Retail
Kaitlin Isabella has been appointed to Legal Director at Verisure from their previous role as Managing Legal Counsel, Commercial at McDonalds.
Katherine Tsang has been appointed to General Counsel – Global IP, Media & Marketing at The Magnum Ice Cream Company from their previous role as Global Counsel at Diageo.
Nisha Patel has been appointed as Legal Director at Compass Group UK & Ireland from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel at Gymshark.
Alison Beveridge has been appointed as Director of Legal & Compliance and Company Secretary at Mulberry England from their previous role as General Counsel at Harland & Wolff.
Gemma Baddeley has been appointed as Head of Legal, Corporate & Finance at Ocado Group from their previous role as Head of Corporate Law at Sainsbury’s.
Jeff Langlands has been appointed to General Counsel, UK and ROI at Tesco from their previous role as Company Director at EE.
Megan Barnes has been promoted to Director of Corporate Governance at Ocado Group from their previous role as Head of Secretariat.
Melissa J. has been promoted to Legal Director at Tyson Foods Europe from their previous role as Associate Legal Director.
Rebecca Ridley has been promoted to Group Head of Legal at Selfridges Group from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Rishi Sharma has been promoted to General Counsel and Company Secretary at ASOS.com from their previous role as SVP, Corporate Affairs and Strategy.
Amber Knight has been promoted to Head of Legal at Stella McCartney from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Chris Amos has been promoted to Head of Legal at Frasers Group from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Emily Joyce has been promoted to Head of Legal at Quintessential Brands Group from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Ester Maria Alonso has been promoted to Legal Director, Central and Eastern Europe at Diageo from their previous role as Legal Director, GB.
Design Services and Advertising
Clare Fitzpatrick has been promoted to Group Legal Director at Brave Bison from their previous role as Head of Legal.
Pheobe Greenwood has been promoted to Group General Counsel & Co Sec at Xaar from their previous role as Group Head of Legal.
Education and Museums
Clare Stevenson has been appointed to Director of Legal, Governance & Compliance and Deputy University Secretary at University of Bath from their previous role as Director of Legal, Governance and Compliance at Keele University.
Shinae (Kang) Bae has been appointed to Head of Legal at Law Business Research from their previous role as Head of Legal at MyTutor.
David Emanuel has been promoted to Deputy Director, Legal & Compliance Services at University of Kent from their previous role as Head of Legal Services.
Energy, Sustainability and Utilities
Andrew Levy has been appointed as Head of Legal at WiseEnergy from their previous role as Head of Legal at Keller.
Celia Gough has been appointed as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Anglian Water Services from their previous role as Chief Legal Officer at Veolia.
Ciaran Boyle has been appointed as Group General Counsel at Energean from their previous role as General Counsel at First Quantum Minerals.
Claire McAreavey has been appointed as Head of Legal at Everway from their previous role as Head of Legal at Alternative Heat.
David Henry has been appointed as General Counsel at Northern Endurance Partnership from their previous role as General Counsel at Spirit Energy.
Karen Pettigrew has been appointed General Counsel at Gulf Oil International Group from their previous role as Assistant General Counsel at Just Group.
Tom Ralph has been appointed General Counsel at Lanes Group from their previous role as Head of Legal and Company Secretary at SIG.
Emma Walmsley has been promoted to Head of Legal & Compliance at Project Better Energy from their previous role as Senior Solicitor.
Euan Taylor has been promoted to General Counsel at Apatura from their previous role as Legal Counsel.
Richard Hill has been promoted to General Counsel, Litigation at Shell from their previous role as General Counsel, Downstream and Renewables.
Sonia Love has been promoted to Head of Legal at TotalEnergies from their previous role as Legal Manager.
Sophie Whitehead has been promoted to Head of Legal (Commercial) at Climate Impact Partner from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Tom Myers has been promoted to Legal Director, Subsea Products and Services at TechnipFMC from their previous role as Senior Contract Manager.
Entertainment, Media, Sport and Gaming
Alison Wood has been appointed General Counsel at Williams Racing from their previous role as SVP, General Counsel at Ascential.
Charles Clarke has been appointed to Director, Legal & Business Affairs, International at Universal (Destinations & Experiences) from their previous role as Director at The Compulsory Purchase Association.
Harry Loffman has been appointed as Head of Legal at Excel London from their previous role as Director, Corporate at Starbucks.
Liz Slade has been appointed Director, Legal, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Marketing at Warner Bros. Discovery from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel, EMEA at Mediabrands.
Simon Tindall has been appointed to Legal Director, Media at Relevent from their previous role as Senior Director, Legal Affairs at Infront Sports.
Tu Sen Tran has been appointed as Head of Legal and Compliance at Anytime Fitness from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel at Medivet.
Victoria Head has been appointed as Legal Director at Relevent from their previous role as Director, Legal and Business Affairs at Legends.
Alex Skelton has been appointed to Senior Director, Legal, M&A at Warner Bros. Discovery from their previous role as Senior Associate at A&O Shearman.
Matthew Jones has been appointed as General Counsel at EVOLVE from their previous role as Associate at Kirkland & Ellis.
Alex H has been promoted to Head of Legal at Jagex from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Biba Sanotra has been promoted to Deputy General Counsel at DICE from their previous role as Legal Director.
Charlotte Houston has been promoted to Head of League Legal at SailGP from their previous role as Senior Lawyer.
Edward S has been promoted to Senior Director Commercial Legal at OpenBet from their previous role as Associate General Counsel.
Matthew Curran-Whitburn has been promoted to Head of Legal at Flutter Entertainment from their previous role as Deputy Head of Legal.
Millie Broadbent has been promoted to Head of Legal and Governance at Commonwealth Sport from their previous role as Legal and Compliance Manager.
Natalie H has been promoted to Head of Legal and Governance at Swim England from their previous role as Solicitor.
Omar Srouji has been promoted to General Counsel at DICE from their previous role as VP, Deputy General Counsel.
Sophie Merchant has been promoted to Head of Legal (UK) at Legends Global from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Financial Services
Gareth Jones has been appointed General Counsel, Barclays Execution Services at Barclays from their previous role as Managing Director and Senior Counsel at Goldman Sachs.
Matt Burke has been appointed as Head of Legal & Compliance (UK) Clearlake Credit at Clearlake Capital Group from their previous role as General Counsel & Head of Compliance at Signal.
Monique Pettigrew has been appointed to General Counsel and Head of Compliance, Europe at Bitwise in Europe from their previous role as CLO and General Counsel at SeedLegals.
Nasia Pachiti has been appointed as Head of Legal, UK & Europe at NAB from their previous role as Group General Counsel at IG Group.
Paul Jordan has been appointed as Chief Legal Officer at Market Harborough Building Society from their previous role as Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Cynergy Bank.
Ryan Magee has been appointed to Chief Legal Officer at Portman Finance Group from their previous role as General Counsel & CRO at Market Financial Solutions.
Charlotte Taylor-Evans has been appointed to Group General Counsel at The Quanta Group from their previous role as Head of Legal & Corporate Secretary at MV Credit.
Dom Taylor has been appointed as Legal Director at Phoenix Court from their previous role as Associate at Cooley.
Belinda Doshi has been promoted to Head of Legal, Payments, Competition & Data (PCD) at Lloyds Banking Group from their previous role as Head of Legal, Data & Digital.
Carl Pastars has been promoted to EMEA Head of Legal for Custody & Middle East at BNY from their previous role as MD, Senior Managing Counsel.
Daniel Smith has been promoted to General Counsel – Macquarie Energy Leasing Limited at Macquarie Group from their previous role as Legal Director.
Daniel Hennis has been promoted to EMEA Head of Technology Legal at Goldman Sachs from their previous role as Senior Legal Director.
Dominica Tammas-Hastings has been promoted to Head of Legal at C. Hoare & Co. from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Ed Pike has been promoted to Head of Legal, Infrastructure at 3i Group plc from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Joanne Bridge has been promoted to Head of Legal – Finance and Corporate at Travelex from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Katie Osborn has been promoted to Director, Regulatory & Deputy General Counsel at NewDay from their previous role as Deputy General Counsel.
Lauren H. has been promoted to EMEA Head of Legal for Fund Services at BNY from their previous role as Senior Managing Counsel.
Lisa Maxwell has been promoted to Chief Legal Officer at FE FundInfo from their previous role as General Counsel.
Louise Jones has been promoted to General Counsel at SAP Taulia (previously Taulia) from their previous role as Assistant General Counsel. Tim Gower has been promoted to Head of Legal – Commercial at Experian from their previous role as Senior Commercial Solicitor.
Fintech
Aaron Desborough has been appointed to Senior Director, Head of Legal Technology, Data & Operations at Monzo Bank from their previous role as Senior Associate General Counsel at Meta.
Adam Bassett has been appointed to General Counsel – UK at Quantfury from their previous role as Associate General Counsel at Interactive Brokers.
Chris James has been appointed to General Counsel – UK at ClearBank from their previous role as General Counsel at Zing.
Daniel Bailey has been appointed to Legal Director at Finastra from their previous role as Principal Legal Counsel at Synamedia.
Jennifer Page has been promoted to Director of Legal, Litigation and Investigations at Monzo Bank from their previous role as Principal Legal Counsel.
Peter Sudbury has been promoted to Director of Legal at LendInvest from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Umeadi Ifeonye has been promoted to Head of Commercial Legal (Protect) and DPO at GoCardless from their previous role as Principal, Senior Legal Manager.
Government Administration and Regulators
Momtaz Begum has been appointed as Head of Government Legal Services at Falkland Islands Government from their previous role as Head of Legal at one source.
Sabrina Robinson has been appointed as Head of Legal Services at Northamptonshire Police from their previous role as Head of Regulatory & Operations at West Midlands Police.
Claire Taylor has been promoted to Head of Legal at Test Valley Borough Council from their previous role as Legal Services Manager.
Hospitality and Travel
Chris Whalley has been appointed as Head of Legal, Ethics & Compliance at IHG Hotels & Resorts from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel at Johnson Matthey.
Infrastructure, Logistics and Transportation
Nichola Watts has been appointed to Head of Legal – Cluster Benelux, UK & Ireland at DSV – Global Transport and Logistics from their previous role as Legal Director at DB Schenker.
Alice Blake (Williams) has been promoted to General Counsel at Addison Lee from their previous role as Head of Legal.
Roland Gray has been promoted to General Counsel at InstaVolt from their previous role as Head of Property.
Insurance
Chris Pinney has been appointed as General Counsel at AmTrust International from their previous role as General Counsel, International at Sedgwick.
Georgina C has been appointed as Head of Commercial Legal at Lockton from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel at Allianz Commercial.
James Rember has been appointed as Deputy General Counsel at Sedgwick from their previous role as Head of Legal & Compliance at Coverys London.
Laura Munera has been appointed as Legal Director at SquareTrade Europe from their previous role as Senior Attorney at Viasat.
Oliver Maher has been appointed as Head of Legal UK & Ireland at Coface from their previous role as Legal Adviser at UK Export Finance.
Samantha Stocker has been appointed to Head of Legal at Chaucer Group from their previous role as Assistant General Counsel at AIG.
Adam Edwards has been promoted to Director of Legal & Compliance at Marshmallow from their previous role as Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance.
Alexandra Gilmour has been promoted to General Counsel, Managing Director at Gallagher from their previous role as General Counsel.
Investment, VC and PE
Carolina Sa Duarte has been appointed as Director & Head of Legal at GP Bullhound from their previous role as Lead Counsel at Citi.
Charlie Winckworth has been appointed as General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at Al Liwan Group from their previous role as Chief Legal Officer at The Entrepreneurs Group.
Susan Adelegan has been appointed as Head of Legal and Compliance at Gilini Group from their previous role as Senior Regulatory Affairs Manager at Development Partners International.
Luke Maier has been promoted to Head of Legal at Manulife from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Michael Lampshire has been promoted to General Counsel at Apax from their previous role as Deputy General Counsel.
Sarah Crabtree has been promoted to Head of Legal (Transactions) at Syncona Limited from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Manufacturing and Mining
David Johnson has been appointed to General Counsel at First Quantum Minerals from their previous role as Chief Legal Counsel at CMOC.
John Beckett has been appointed to Chief Legal Officer (Group General Counsel and Company Secretary) at Caldic from their previous role as General Counsel at Hunter Douglas Europe.
Lauren Thompson has been appointed to Head of Legal at Babcock International Group from their previous role as Regional General Counsel at Scott Bader.
Ruth Anderson has been appointed to Head of Legal at Hensoldt from their previous role as Head of Legal at SEKO Logistics.
Alexandra Winter has been promoted to Senior Director, Legal at RS Group plc from their previous role as Legal Director.
Fred Kenyon Shutes has been promoted to General Counsel at Motion Applied (previously McLaren Applied) from their previous role as Head of Legal.
Sarah Roast has been promoted to Head of Legal, Global Commercial and Contracting at CooperCompanies from their previous role as Senior Legal Counsel.
Technology
Baljinder Samrai has been appointed to Director, Legal Strategy and Business Operations at Booking.com from their previous role as Senior Director, Chief of Staff at Clarivate.
Emma Ferguson has been appointed to Head of Legal at Zuto from their previous role as Senior Corporate Counsel at Starbucks.
Mark O’Donoghue has been appointed to General Counsel at Beauhurst from their previous role as Director of Strategy at Great Truths Global.
Murray Dunn has been appointed to General Counsel at Dwelly from their previous role as COO and Head of Legal at GFG Alliance.
Roxana Ghiassee has been appointed as Head of Legal at Relay Technologies from their previous role as Head of EU E-Commerce Legal at TikTok.
Ruth Marshall has been appointed to Chief Counsel UK and Europe at Serco from their previous role as Director of Legal Services at Sport England.
Sarah Draper has been appointed to General Counsel and Company Secretary at Nominet from their previous role as General Counsel and CRO at Telehouse.
Sohan Manek has been appointed as Head of Legal at Pencil from their previous role as Head of Legal at Meltwater.
Sophie C has been appointed as Head of Legal at Omnea from their previous role as Senior Counsel at Flo Health.
Anouska Fabes has been promoted to Legal Director (Consumer & Marketing) at Deliveroo from their previous role as Senior Commercial Counsel.
Eva Wong has been promoted to General Counsel at Parity Technologies from their previous role as Director of Legal Affairs.
Gemma Meehan has been promoted to General Counsel at Six Degrees from their previous role as Head of Legal.
Karen Fisher has been promoted to Head of Legal and Company Secretariat at Syntura from their previous role as Legal Counsel and Company Secretary.
Malgosia Zietara-Miller has been promoted to General Counsel at Personio from their previous role as Senior Director, Group Head of Legal.
Miles Stanton has been promoted to Head of Legal and Product Enablement at Robin AI from their previous role as Head of Legal APAC.
Stu Wood has been promoted to Head of Legal, Global Content & Partnerships at TikTok from their previous role as Lead Counsel.
Telecommunications
Mike Cooper has been appointed to Senior Director, Legal at Airalo from their previous role as Director, Trust & Safety at Trustpilot.
Tom Goodman has been appointed to VP of Legal at Airalo from their previous role as Senior Director, Legal Affairs at Trustpilot.
Will Scrimshaw has been appointed to Deputy General Counsel at Cornerstone from their previous role as General Counsel & Company Secretary at BenevolentAI.
Claire Jones has been promoted to Head of Legal – Media and Broadcast at Arqiva from their previous role as Senior Commercial Lawyer.
