Entertainment venues giant NEC Group's first-ever general counsel is gearing up for a review of its legal advisers, it has emerged, while Christian Salvesen is to lose its second senior in-house lawyer in recent months.

NEC hired Keith Marriot, commercial legal director at shipping and manufacturing company Christian Salvesen, late last year to lead its six-strong legal team. Marriot spent five years at Christian Salvesen, where he dealt with logistics, outsourcing transactions and joint ventures. Prior to that, he spent five years as a solicitor at Hammonds.

Marriot has now started a review of NEC's external legal advisers, which he hopes to complete by the end of April.

Marriot commented: "I am very pleased to be joining the NEC Group and I hope to bring a fresh outlook and new ideas. I am looking to manage how much legal work we outsource and how much we keep in-house. The NEC Group has a varied business which is going through a period of aggressive expansion. The review will look at ways in which we can control cost."

NEC Group currently instructs Pinsent Masons for the bulk of its legal work but also instructs other firms for specialist work, including Birmingham outfits Anthony Collins and Shakespeare Putman.

While at Christian Salvesen, Marriott worked under group general counsel Edward Peppiatt and used a number of firms including Lovells, Pinsents and Howes Percival. He has been replaced by interim commercial legal director, Neil Ogilvie.

Following Christian Salvesen's takeover by French distribution giant Groupe Norbert Dentressangle, Peppiatt has also announced that he is to leave the logistics company. Peppiatt will remain at the company until the end of next month to help with integration issues. He said Christian Salvesen was unlikely to appoint another general counsel in the UK under its new ownership regime.

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