South West law firm Foot Anstey has recruited Mark Millar, a former general counsel and company secretary at the AA, as a Bristol-based partner in its expanding corporate and commercial team.
The move means Mark, pictured, returns to private practice after 15 years leading in-house teams as general counsel and company secretary. As well as the FTSE 250-listed AA, where he spent just over four years, he has also worked in that role at Domino’s Group – also on the FTSE 250 – and Bath-based media group Future, where he spent 11 years. 
Prior to that he was a solicitor at Simmons & Simmons and an associate at Allen & Overy, where over 10 years he gained experience in public and private mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, group restructurings and financings and corporate governance issues.
In addition to legal and company secretarial at the AA, he also headed the group’s risk, compliance, business continuity planning and central assurance functions, delivering a holistic approach to risk, legal and reputational issues.
He has a wealth of experience across all aspects of corporate life from his core corporate areas, governance, remuneration, share schemes, AGMs, dividends and distributable reserves, IP, brand protection, data strategy implementation and transformational change – including senior board changes and other major projects.
In addition, he has overseen major reputation management projects including significant litigation and data breach management.
At Foot Anstey he will have a strategic and wide-ranging remit, leading large in-house teams supporting major national and international businesses in delivering practical, commercial, solutions-focused advice.
Foot Anstey partner and head of business group Chris Worrell said: “Mark is a strong addition and we are excited about the contribution he brings to Foot Anstey’s continually growing team.
“His experience, particularly from his roles at the AA and Domino’s Pizza Group plc, fit perfectly with the firm’s focus on understanding clients’ challenges and how we support clients with bespoke advice and wider support on the range of complex business challenges they face.”
Mark Millar added: “I am delighted to join Foot Anstey, a firm which believes in delivering value to its clients. Having been a major buyer of legal services for the last 15 years I believe there is an opportunity to deliver hands-on, commercial legal advice to clients using the significant experience I have gained in busy frontline roles. I am really excited about this next step.”
Foot Anstey how has 130 people in its Bristol office, which it relocated to a showpiece office at 2 Glass Wharf, Temple Quay, last year – six years after opening in the city with just 10 employees. The firm also has offices in Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Truro, Southampton and London.
