About

Team size: 3
Major law firms used: Three Major law firms used: Bird & Bird, Gowling WLG, Lewis Silkin, Osborne Clarke

Lisa Tomlins, a former senior lawyer at online takeaway giant Just Eat, joined interior designer MADE.COM as its first ever GC in December 2014. Tomlins and her small team have responsibility
for all legal matters across the UK-headquartered company, including its ambitions to grow its European footprint.

‘In the last quarter of 2018, we entered our eighth market when we broke into Spain and we are planning to launch in Portugal, Italy, Denmark and Sweden this year, which brings with it a kaleidoscope of important projects, including numerous legal contracts and ensuring compliance with local regulations,’ she comments.

Tomlins helped the company reach $60m in funding growth to accelerate its European expansion in July 2015. But plans for expansion have enhanced the importance of undertaking Brexit-proofing activities. ‘For example, while we have already had supply-chain operations in both Europe and the UK for some time, we have further enhanced our European supply-chain operations in preparation for Brexit.

‘Brexit presents a challenge because we sell throughout Europe and have a pan-European focus. However we also believe that, compared to other brands with an exclusively UK-focused business, our pan-European focus can be an advantage when faced with Brexit headwinds.’

Following her appointment, she set up The Disruptive GC Network alongside co-creator Matthew Wilson, legal director at Uber. She says the network, which has more than 50 members, has proved popular. ‘Start-ups present their own challenges from a legal perspective, and I wanted to create a no-strings-attached forum to share experiences and exchange ideas with other GCs going through similar journeys.’

Having hired her first lawyer in October last year, Tomlins is hoping to make further additions to the legal team in line with the company’s growth ambitions. The interiors business has used gap-year graduates as paralegals for legal work alongside a mix of law firms. ‘I’m very open about projects and priorities that are set at a senior level by the business as this empowers my team to be effective advisers.’

Tomlins worked for Just Eat for over two years before moving to MADE.COM, and was part of the team that oversaw the food company’s £387m initial public offering and London listing in April 2014. ‘The legal challenges that I faced at Just Eat were somewhat different to the challenges I face at MADE, but there are definite similarities between the companies in the speed of innovation, the level of risk appetite and lack of legal precedent.’

She believes, ultimately, lawyers of all kinds will need to become more aligned and adaptable to how businesses operate. ‘Law firms will need to be more flexible with their hours-based billing model – it’s antiquated and needs to be reformed. The model is too unpredictable and doesn’t link fees paid to the value of services.’