In four years as head of legal for the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (K&C), Gifty Edila has transformed the way the council carries out its legal work.

K&C is one of London’s larger and richer boroughs, a magnet for tourists and shoppers. But it also has areas of deprivation and similar issues faced by other, poorer urban areas. Edila’s task is to provide the best service to all of the borough’s residents.

One of K&C’s major projects launched during the past 12 months was the start of the Exhibition Road redevelopment. Edila persuaded the council that turning to external advisers would be more efficient in the long run, and so hired Berwin Leighton Paisner instead of squeezing the council’s resources.

Edila also brought her dynamism to the local authority lawyers’ group the Association of Council Secretaries and Solicitors, acting as president for 2005.