Unilever has appointed Tonia Lovell as its new chief legal officer and group secretary, replacing longstanding legal head Steve Williams.

Williams will step down at the end of the year after 24 years at the company in a variety of roles.

Lovell (pictured) will work with Williams until his retirement, advising the company's board and executive as well as leading the 175-lawyer legal team across the Anglo-Dutch giant's business.

Lovell has been general counsel to Unilever's UK and Ireland business since 2003. She also formerly worked at Linklaters between 1991 and 1997.

Unilever traditionally turns to Slaughter and May for its major corporate work, but the company also has close ties with Baker & McKenzie for advice on intellectual property matters.

Unilever chief executive Paul Polman said: "Steve has played a major role at Unilever throughout a long and distinguished career. His incisive wisdom and his sense of humour have won him many friends and admirers. At the same time I would like to welcome Tonia as she takes on this very important role."

Williams has spent the bulk of his career in-house after joining ICI's legal team from Slaughters in 1975. He joined Unilever in 1986 and was appointed general counsel in 1993.

Between 1995 and 2004 he was a non-executive director of distribution company Bunzl, while in 2004 he joined the board of Arriva as a senior independent director, and in 2008 he took on a non-executive role at restaurant and hotel company Whitbread.