Kate Cremins – GC Powerlist
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Ireland 2022

Consumer products

Kate Cremins

Head of legal and company secretary | Brown Thomas & Arnotts

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Ireland 2022

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Kate Cremins

Head of legal and company secretary | Brown Thomas & Arnotts

Team size: Three

How has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities?

At Brown Thomas Arnotts, our vision is to reinvent retail and strive for a sustainable future for our people, customers, and communities. As a business, we place sustainability at the heart of how we work, what we buy and sell. Our aim is to manage our environmental footprint, responsibly sourcing our products and supporting our people and communities. Our sustainability programme has three pillars of action: work responsibly, buy and sell responsibly, and support people and community. My team and I support the business in all aspects of the above from advising on key policies such as our ethical trading requirements and modern slavery statement to contract drafting and negotiation.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

With the ongoing restrictions required upon the offices in relation to Covid-19, it appears that our future working environment as a legal team will be a model of remote working. In the circumstances, having reliable self-starters is critical for in-house legal teams to excel. At Brown Thomas and Arnotts, we have a wonderful small team of capable and driven lawyers. As a legal team, we have demonstrated our ability to evolve to the rapid pace of the Covid-19 retail environment.

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

Our team recently completed a very significant project to merge Brown Thomas and Arnotts into one legal entity, Brown Thomas Arnotts Limited. It was a hugely successful project and has created substantial efficiencies and benefits across all aspects of our businesses. Whilst it was challenging to carry out this project in the midst of Covid-19 restrictions, it has been a tremendous success for our team.

We are in the process of opening a suburb new Brown Thomas Store at Dundrum, Dublin. Our vision for the store is to create a contemporary space, mixing physical and virtual realities to enhance the shopping experience for customers. This is a significant and ongoing project in relation to which my team and I are both leading and supporting across all elements of the business.

As a legal team in a very fast paced and ever-changing retail industry, given the current Covid-19 environment, we will need to be more adaptable and flexible than ever before. We are lucky to have a very strong legal team at Brown Thomas and I am confident that we will meet the challenges head on.

Kate Cremins - Ireland 2019

Legal counsel and company secretary | Brown Thomas & Arnotts

‘Kate Cremins is legal counsel and company secretary at the Brown Thomas group, Ireland’s largest luxury retail group, and which since 2015 has included the Arnotts group. The Brown Thomas...

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