Dan Webster, group general counsel at Harrods, discusses what it takes to advise one of the world’s most recognisable department stores
I studied law at the London School of Economics and went to law school in Chester. I got a training contract at what is now CMS. I qualified in litigation, stayed a couple of years at CMS and then moved to SNR Denton. I stayed there for a few years and then decided I wanted a change. To my surprise, an opportunity came up to be an in-house litigator at Harrods, where the then-owner was famously very litigious. Once at Harrods, I quickly realised I was meant to be an in-house lawyer and, over time, I’ve evolved into a commercial, corporate, employment, IP all-rounder.
I was brought in initially as an in-house litigator. It quickly became apparent there was a demand for more general in-house work and less than a full-time job available for litigation work. So, I was very happy to broaden my skillset – I wasn’t someone who wanted to stay specialised. I was very happy to become more like a legal equivalent of a GP – if I can make a comparison to the medical profession. The fact that you can kind of turn your mind to most legal tasks, I found that very interesting, and really enjoyed the variety. Therefore, I embraced the opportunity to try to be an all-rounder within an in-house practice, as opposed to a specialist litigator.
I oversee the legal function for the entire Harrods group. This includes commercial, corporate, IP, marketing and consumer work. I look after all the company secretarial work for the group too. I’m also data protection officer, which is unusual for a GC. I oversee all the GDPR-related work. I’m also responsible for the trade mark and domain name portfolio.
Harrods has around 700 trade marks throughout the world. We need to protect our brand, which obviously is very valuable. It’s one of the most famous brands out there and definitely one of the most famous retail brands in the world. The trade mark acts as a deterrent to other organisations using our brand without our permission. It also means that if someone does try and use our brand without our permission, we’re able to enforce our trade mark to stop this infringement.
The business never sleeps, so it’s genuinely a constant challenge – but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The work-life balance can be an issue, but it focuses you to be efficient in the way you work.
We’re nearing the last stages of the store refurbishment project, we’ve recently reopened our food halls and a state-of-the-art new beauty room. We’re revamping our chocolate room very shortly. We’re re-platforming the Harrods.com website, which will be launching early next year. We’re trialling an ‘H Café’ concept in Henley, which is both a café and a click-and-collect location, with changing rooms upstairs. We’ll be opening two ‘H Beauty’ shops next year – this is a very exciting new beauty concept and effectively a new brand we’re building from scratch.
Alex Scudamore, head of legal at Wimbledon – The All England Lawn Tennis Club, discusses handling one of the UK’s most treasured brands. She talks about her journey to Wimbledon and the challenges faced by the organisation
I was in the commercial team at Macfarlanes. The department was broad commercially: anything from your contractual work, to IP, to brand protection and back to data protection. So, you were geared up in a very commercial way. I was then sent on a secondment, initially to a card payment processing company – so nothing to do with what I’m doing now. That was my first taste of in-house life, which I had when I was a year and a half or so qualified. Then, another secondment opportunity came up, which I was put forward to. It was to go to CSM, a sports marketing company. Long story short, I went to that secondment because they needed support in their legal function, and ended up never going back to Macfarlanes.
I was happy working in the sports marketing company. But for me, the appeal of Wimbledon was working for a rights holder, as a lawyer. Working for an agency, you were unable to give external legal advice to your sporting clients, whether that be brands or players – you were always at a slight distance.
‘It’s pretty interesting for a lawyer here – you’re certainly not kept siloed in your box of an office, you are out there speaking to people.’
I was starting to think about my next move and the appeal of Wimbledon – it’s such a strong property, such a strong brand, it’s established in the sporting world – meant that it was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn away. I moved to Wimbledon as head of legal.
As an organisation, our biggest challenges are compliance related. Things like what our largest risks are: we are delivering a major, major sporting event, with thousands of people who visit, so one of our biggest challenges is security. And with some of our most major compliance challenges, we have great teams who focus on that. For me, it’s certainly GDPR and data protection. We need to make sure this continues to remain at the forefront of our focus as an organisation.
Wimbledon is growing, and we can’t afford to be complacent. We’ve acquired the golf course and golf club over the road – so that ultimate expansion is very exciting. The grass courts tennis season has been a new thing for the club – it’s been a new thing for me too. I’ve had to develop an understanding of how these licences from the ATP and WTA work. These licences are the right to stage these tournaments – so that has all been very exciting. It’s pretty interesting for a lawyer here – you’re certainly not kept siloed in your box of an office, you are out there speaking to people. I’d like to think that I’ve become, or I am becoming that trusted adviser within the organisation, which is what any in-house lawyer tends to be. LB
Aminah Karim is junior features writer at GC