Microsoft has named commercial lawyer Dervish Tayyip as its new UK head of legal.

Tayyip took up his new position today (12 July) and will report to senior director of law and corporate affairs Chris Parker.

Tayyip was a partner at City firm Reid Minty before joining Microsoft in 1999. He has supported the computer giant's largest licensing and services transactions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Tayyip takes over as UK legal chief from Gillian Austin, who left Microsoft at the end of 2006. He will now be tasked with handling software licensing arragements between clients and partners of the company, among other duties.

In a statement, Parker commented: "We are delighted that Dervish is rejoining the UK legal team and we look forward to him enhancing the business experience for Microsoft customers and partners."

Microsoft is one of the world's largest computer companies, with annual revenues of $44bn (£21.6bn) and more than 75,000 employees around the globe.