Dentons partner succeeds Neville at John Lewis

Next month will mark a watershed at the John Lewis Partnership, when director of legal services Terry Neville retires after a 21-year stint with the retailer.

Neville will be succeeded in the post by Denton Wilde Sapte planning partner Margaret Casely-Hayford.

During his tenure, Neville has witnessed significant changes, both at the company and in the wider retail environment. Neville told Legal Week that during his time at the helm of the company's 10-strong legal team he had seen the Government's planning policy go full circle. In the early 1980s, retailers tended to build in-town developments. Then from the mid-1980s they were compelled to build further afield in out-of-town locations.

"There is a cost to that in terms of communities and town centres and now it has gone the other way," said Neville. "There are virtually no more out-of-town developments – it has to be in-town."

One of the issues that Neville's successor will have to deal with is the burgeoning number of retailers wanting a presence in fewer cites.

John Lewis has so far addressed this issue by expanding through acquisition rather than building entirely new developments. In 2004 it acquired 19 stores from WM Morrison and gained a foothold in the north of England.

The retail chain's legal advisers, which include Lovells, Dechert and Freeman Box, will be watching closely to see if Casely-Hayford replicates Neville's robust approach to managing external counsel.

"The days are gone when you could just keep writing the cheque for the fee that came into their head," said Neville. "We expect value for money from those who provide legal services – just as our customers expect it from us."

Casely-Hayford, who began her career as a barrister, has been a partner at Dentons since 1998 and is joint head of the planning and public law group. She played a lead role on the high-profile £2bn King's Cross Central regeneration project in June 2004, acting as lead adviser to the London Borough of Camden.

Costain recruits new head of legal from Hammonds

Ex-Hammonds partner Tracey Wood has joined construction and engineering company Costain as head of legal. She replaces Clive Franks, who remains as company secretary and will also be responsible for corporate legal work.

Wood will report to Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie.

Wood was keen to emphasise that her move had been prompted by the appeal of the Costain job and not by any disenchantment with the embattled national firm. "I have been very happy at Hammonds, despite all the problems it has had, but you have to grab opportunities like this with both hands," she told Legal Week.

Woods joined Hammonds as an associate from legacy firm Lee Crowder (now Cobbetts) in 2003 and became a partner in May last year.

She specialises in projects work and in November last year advised facilities management services group Compass on a £320m private finance initiative deal for hospitals in Nottinghamshire.

Drake switches over from ITV to UEFA

Simon Drake, ITV's head of legal and business affairs for sport, has been appointed head of commercial legal services at UEFA.

Drake will fill the shoes of Richard Verow, who left the football governing body in October after a three-year spell, to join the International Cricket Council in Dubai.

Drake is due to leave the UK broadcasting giant at the end of the month and will relocate from London to UEFA's offices in Nyon, Switzerland. It is understood that ITV has not yet chosen Drake's successor.

Drake joined Granada Media six years ago and became head of legal and business affairs for ITV Sport following the merger of Carlton and Granada in February 2004. He has also held in-house positions at Sony Music and Gallaher Group, the tobacco company.

One sports lawyer commented: "[Simon] will be dealing with massively successful and valuable properties such as the European Championship and the Champions League. There is a huge market, but also a lot of regulatory interest, so he is going to have a lot of balls to juggle."

The appointment will be watched closely by UEFA's legal advisers, which include Bird & Bird, Hammonds and Olswang.

FSA makes double hire for enforcement arm

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has made two internal appointments to fill vacancies in its enforcement division.

Jamie Symington is replacing Ian Mason, who left the regulator late last year for Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, as co-head of wholesale enforcement alongside Carlos Conceicao.

Meanwhile, William Amos is replacing Julia Dunn as head of retail enforcement.

Symington led the FSA's case against Citi-group for manipulation of the European bond market that resulted in the banking giant being landed with a £13.9m fine last summer.

Symington is a barrister who joined the FSA's enforcement division in 1999 and led the legislative change team at the time the Financial Services and Markets Act was passed and implemented. Since 2004, he has been in the enforcement division's wholesale group, managing investigation and prosecutions of market abuse cases.

One financial regulation partner commented: "The FSA seems more comfortable promoting its own than getting an unknown quantity from outside."

The enforcement division has undergone a number of changes over the last year, with the litigation and legal review unit set up in January to assess cases before they are sent to the Regulatory Decision Committee, the regulator's sanctions body.

In a speech in January, director of enforcement Margaret Cole pledged to impose harsher penalties on those found guilty of market mis-conduct, declaring that "fines for this type of behaviour should not be, and should not be seen to be, just another cost of doing business".