Simon Barratt
General counsel
Whitbread
With 21 years’ experience at Whitbread, Simon Barratt has been directly involved in some game-changing deals at the multinational hotel and restaurant company. One of the biggest was probably the de-merger and sale of 3,000 pubs in 2001 in a transaction worth £1.6bn that returned £1.1bn to its shareholders. He also steered the company through the acquisition of Premier Lodge in 2004 for £500m.
Barratt’s legal team comprises three other lawyers and spends around £3m on external expertise, allocating a large amount towards property work, especially since the company has focused on expanding the Premier Inn and Costa Coffee businesses since selling its Beer Company operation for £400m in 2000.
Law firms used: Addleshaw Goddard, Bird & Bird, Blake Lapthorn, Bond Dickinson, Cobbetts, Field Fisher Waterhouse, John Gaunt & Partners, Kimbells Freeth, LG, Pinsent Masons, Weightmans
1997-present: General counsel and company secretary, Whitbread
1991-97: Group legal adviser, Whitbread
1989-91: Corporate counsel, Heron International