About

Team size: 30
Major law firms used: Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, DWF, Gowling WLG, Lewis Silkin, Osborne Clarke, Slaughter and May

Verity Chase is the highly regarded head of group legal of cherished retail brand Marks and Spencer (M&S), and is a well-known in-house player after being nominated for the Legal Business Rising Star In-House Counsel of the Year Award in 2014.

Not long after the commendation, Chase took over the top legal job at M&S from the long-standing Robert Ivens in 2016, himself no stranger to the GC Powerlist. Since then, she has had ample opportunity to assert herself in a high-profile company going through turbulent times. In the public eye in recent years has been a spate of store closures, instigated in part due to a strategic shift to online sales. In January this year, M&S announced 17 stores set for closure, with a view to shut down more than 100 by 2022.

Chase’s legal team has been heavily affected by this, drafted in to manage consultations with staff whose jobs have been affected by the cuts. She comments: ‘Our employment, commercial and property lawyers will advise on the whole closure process working hand-in-hand with the business.’
It has not all been doom and gloom: Chase had a big hand in establishing a joint venture with Founders Factory, called Founders Factory Retail. The initiative focuses on investing in and growing start-ups related to the sector, and M&S will be Founders Factory’s exclusive UK retail partner, giving it significant first-mover advantage.

Chase says the best piece of career advice she has received came from former M&S chief executive Steve Rowe, whom she considers a mentor. ‘He said: “Where are you now and where do you want to be? What skills do you need to get there?” Just that simple process of mapping out your career is so important.’