Lucozade Ribena Suntory has drafted in Linklaters lawyer Mary Guest as its new general counsel.

Guest, who took up the role in June this year, has succeeded previous legal head Mollie Stoker, who left to become director of business development at parent company Suntory Beverage and Food Europe.

Guest was previously a managing associate at Linklaters, specialising in technology, media and telecoms and intellectual property.

She joined the magic circle firm after six years as head of legal for commercial law at the Football Association. Before moving in-house, Guest was a senior associate at rival magic circle firm Clifford Chance (CC).

A statement on Lucozade's website from Guest states: "We always act with integrity, and pride ourselves on an open and transparent culture that's driven by our brand values.

"We have an ethics and compliance committee who regularly review our behaviours, policies and procedures to make sure we're right on track. In 2014, we introduced a whistleblowing hotline to allow for flagging of unethical or negative behaviours, as part of our compliance commitment."

Lucozade Ribena Suntory was formed in 2013 after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sold its Ribena and Lucozade brands to Japan's Suntory Beverage & Food for £1.35bn. Allen & Overy advised GSK on the deal, with CC advising Suntory.

Suntory established a European presence in 2009, when it bought soft drinks producer Orangina Schweppes. CC and Weil Gotshal & Manges took the lead roles on the €2.6bn takeover, with Weil advising owners Blackstone and Lion Capital and CC representing the Japanese company.