Ms Skene brings expertise in subsidies, competition, public procurement and public law, with clients ranging from central government departments and local authorities to private sector multinationals including in manufacturing, financial services, clean energy, telecoms, pharmaceuticals, retail and food and drink.

She said: “TLT has a really strong presence in the market and a great reputation for supporting clients with their international trade opportunities. I am looking forward to working with the team to help drive this forward and contributing to the firm’s growth.”

Caroline Ramsay, partner at TLT, said: “International trade is clearly high on the agenda for many of our UK and international clients following the UK’s departure from the EU. We are investing heavily in our team to ensure that we can continue to support our clients with our full service capability and meet this demand, with further appointments in the pipeline.

“Ayla has great qualifications, not least from her knowledge of the Canadian market. This will be invaluable as trade relations with North America are clearly high on the agenda for the UK in the coming months. I am absolutely delighted that she has joined our team.”