The Royal Mail has appointed Maaike de Bie as permanent general counsel, following her stint as interim general counsel (GC) after Neil Harnby stepped down from the role last July.

De Bie previously held the positon of deputy GC at Royal Mail before stepping into the interim position in September 2015 after Harnby left in July.

In her permanent role de Bie will sit on the Royal Mail chief executive's committee.

Before joining Royal Mail in 2014, de Bie previously held roles as GC for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) division of GE Capital Commercial Distribution Finance, a financial services unit of the General Electric Company.

She has also worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ernst & Young and White & Case.

Harnby joined Royal Mail in 2012 from GE Capital where he was Europe and Middle East general counsel. Previously he was also a partner at Linklaters.

His time at Royal Mail coincided with its privatisation. He led the legal team through its £3.3bn initial public offering in 2013 and its pay and conditions deal with the Communication Workers Union in 2014.

In November the same year Harnby oversaw Royal Mail's first legal panel review since 2010.

Royal Mail appointed 15 firms to the panel including Slaughter and May, CMS Cameron McKenna and DAC Beachcroft. Previous adviser Bond Dickinson lost its role on the panel as a result of the review.

Other firms that won places were Addleshaw Goddard, Bristows, Dentons, DLA Piper, Herbert Smith Freehills, Macfarlanes, Michael Simkins, Strata Solicitors and Weightmans.

Carson McDowell and Napier & Sons were appointed to handle Northern Irish matters and Morton Fraser was appointed to handle Scottish matters.