Despite the takeover of BOC Group by Linde last summer, Nick Deeming, who headed the legacy company's legal function, secured the highly coveted role to lead the combined business's in-house legal team.

As a result Linde's affable chief legal officer Deeming succeeded where many others had failed by escaping the axe, as the resurgent M&A market resulted in sweeping changes in the legal departments of some of the UK's biggest companies.

Within months of moving into the role, Deeming - a canny manager of external legal spend - launched a major review of the company's external lawyers in a bid to deliver value for money.

Separately, Deeming's commitment to ensuring his team receives the best training will result in Linde's launch of the first-ever MBA designed specifically for in-house lawyers. It is hoped that the MBA will be launched in conjunction with other inhouse legal departments.