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The Very Group has announced the appointment of Charlotte Heiss as group general counsel and company secretary, and the promotion of Sean Hallows from operations director to chief operating officer (COO).
Both Heiss and Hallows will report to group CEO, Henry Birch, in their new roles, and Heiss will join the business’ executive team in May 2022. Most recently, she spent 11 years at RSA Group, latterly as group general counsel, company secretary and a member of the group executive committee.
Prior to RSA, Heiss spent eight years at Linklaters LLP specialising in mergers and acquisitions. In her new role, she will oversee corporate governance, as well as all legal, risk and compliance issues.
Meanwhile, Hallows will succeed Phil Hackney who will step down from his role as COO in April 2022 after six years in the role.
Hallows has also spent six years at The Very Group, during which time he has led all outbound logistics and returns, as well as the planning, development and launch of the company’s automated fulfilment centre, Skygate, alongside Hackney.
More recently, Hallows headed the transfer of all fashion returns activity to Skygate, and prior to joining The Very Group, he was COO at Clipper Logistics plc.
Henry Birch, group CEO at The Very Group, said: “Attracting someone of Charlotte’s calibre to the role of general counsel is testament to the strength of our business and an important step in our continued development. She will play a vital role in reinforcing good governance and leading our business’ response on legal, regulatory and compliance matters.
“Sean is a hugely respected leader within our business and brings industry-leading experience, having launched and operated Skygate, one of the UK’s most advanced fulfilment centres. He has worked closely with Phil and is absolutely the right person to become our new chief operating officer.”
He added: “I want to say a massive thank you to Phil, who is responsible for some of the most successful and important developments in our business over the last decade. He is a dedicated, talented and universally respected leader, who leaves an exceptional legacy at The Very Group. We wish him all the very best.”
