Robert Gillespie, the ex-head of UBS’s investment bank in Europe once described by a former colleague as “one of the smartest people you will ever meet”, has re-emerged in a board role at law firm Ashurst, two months after stepping down from the helm of the UK’s Takeover Panel.

Gillespie became director general of the Takeover Panel in September 2010, assuming the position from Philip Remnant. In the course of Gillespie's tenure at the panel, significant changes to takeover rules were introduced, including a mandatory 28-day 'put-up-or-shut-up' deadline for would-be bidders for a UK company.