Norton Rose Fulbright global head of antitrust and competition Martin Coleman has left the firm to become a non-executive director at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Coleman, who retired from Norton Rose's partnership this September, has also recently taken up appointments as a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and as deputy chair of the Office for Students, the new regulator for higher education in England.

In his role at the CMA, Coleman will be responsible for setting the organisation's strategic direction and policy framework and monitoring performance against its objectives.

He spent 28 years at Norton Rose, where he was also co-head of regulation and investigations, a practice the firm launched in 2014 to help businesses navigate matters relating to risk and enforcement.

After last year's Brexit vote, Coleman played a key role in the launch of Norton Rose's international trade treaty practice. The practice, which launched at the beginning of the year comprises of 20 lawyers, including around 10 partners, across the firm's global network.

Coleman co-authored The Competition Act 1998 with fellow Norton Rose partner Michael Grenfell, who is also now at the CMA as executive director of enforcement.

When Grenfell left the firm to join the CMA in 2013, Coleman described it as "a great move", adding that "the transition of private practice lawyers into government and regulatory roles, and vice versa, is a good thing for both regulators and the business community".