Key team members: Kate Cremins, head of legal and company secretary; Marian Stafford, Carmel Rafter and Elaine McEvoy

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

The past year provided several opportunities for the in-house legal team to provide counsel, expertise and partnership to the business as we navigated new, exciting experiences alongside ongoing efforts to integrate two brands into one business.

In August 2022, we completed the sale of Brown Thomas Arnotts to Central Group and Signa Holdings, a significant transaction that created substantial benefits across all aspects of the organisation. While challenging in its scope, the project was incredibly interesting for our team and has been a tremendous success for the business. The completion of the transaction adds Brown Thomas Arnotts to a large portfolio of luxury department stores owned by Central Group alone or jointly owned with Signa Holdings.

Last year, we also opened a new Brown Thomas store at Dundrum, Dublin. Our vision was to create a contemporary space, mixing physical and digital design to enhance customers’ shopping experience. This was another significant project and has been tremendously successful since its opening. My team and I both led key initiatives, collaborating with, and supporting all elements of the business, to successfully complete the project.

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Like so many businesses, recruiting exceptional talent in a competitive marketplace was a challenge for us in 2022. However, due to the strength of our brand and ongoing improvements to our people experience offering, we were truly fortunate to recruit and forge strong relationships with two new joiners, Carmel and Elaine, who hit the ground running and now form an integral part of the legal team.

Has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities, and if so, how?

At Brown Thomas Arnotts, our vision is to reinvent retail and strive for a sustainable future for our people, customers and communities. We place sustainability at the heart of how we work and what we buy and sell. Our aim is to manage our environmental footprint, responsibly source our products and support our people and communities. Our Positive Change sustainability programme has three pillars of action:

Believe – inspiring sustainable behaviour and supporting our people, customers, community, and planet;

Transform – working to transform our business by introducing new business models, sourcing more sustainable materials and using our influence to drive more industry change with our suppliers and brand partners;

Act – acting to tackle the impact of our business by reducing our carbon footprint and minimising packaging and waste.

My team and I support the business in all aspects of the above, from advising on key policies to contract drafting and negotiation.