Bakery business Aryzta has appointed Rhona O’Brien as its new general counsel and company secretary.

O’Brien is joining the global business in September from DCC Vital, the healthcare arm of international sales, marketing and support services business DCC, where she was senior counsel of legal and compliance.

A qualified solicitor practising in Ireland and in-house in England and Wales, O’Brien has more than 18 years of legal and governance experience, said Aryzta. She trained with Arthur Cox before joining Eircom Ltd in 2007, and was promoted to Eircom’s executive senior management team as general counsel in 2013.

Aryzta CEO Kevin Toland said: “Rhona has a great track record of success as a general counsel in addition to leading company secretarial, regulatory, public policy, compliance and equivalence functions.”

He added that she would “strengthen and broaden our team’s expertise as we focus on our core strengths and returning Aryzta to performance and growth”.

The appointment comes a month after the company cut its forecast earnings and announced plans to reduce costs by £175m over the coming three years.

“Aryzta has identified and is addressing the challenges facing the historical business model and the industry generally and will stay focused on its core, the frozen B2B bakery market,” said Toland at the time.