Laura Battley is Group Company Secretary and General Counsel at Watches of Switzerland Group PLC, a FTSE 250 luxury watch and jewellery retailer. Laura has responsibility for the group legal, secretariat, and governance functions as well certain aspects of compliance. Laura is executive sponsor for DEI and currently co-chairs the Watches of Switzerland Diversity Council.

Before joining Watches of Switzerland, Laura was Company Secretary and General Counsel at high street retailer New Look, with responsibility for the legal, secretariat and group compliance. Laura was also responsible for implementing New Look’s ESG framework and was also executive sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion.

Laura trained and qualified as a corporate lawyer at Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May.

Cécile started her career in 2004 in the law firm at Baker & McKenzie, advising on IP and litigations for major technology, media, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies.

She joined Chanel in 2012 in which she headed the Europe regional IP team, based in Paris.

In 2019, Cécile has relocated to London to set up the Global Legal operations function at Chanel, and was the Chief of Staff of Chanel’s Global General Counsel. Cecile supported the overall department strategic planning, governance, innovation, cross-functional alignment and process improvements.

In 2023, Cécile was appointed as Global Head of Intellectual Property, leading Chanel’s IP and brand protection strategy worldwide.

Cécile is also a passionate driver of D&I initiatives in her company.

Jennifer is the Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary for Maybourne Hotels Limited, which manages and operates some of the world’s most exclusive and ultra luxury hotels including Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley in London, The Maybourne Beverly Hills and The Maybourne Riviera. Jennifer sits on the Executive Committee and reports directly to the Co-CEO’s. Before joining Maybourne, Jennifer spent 14 years at Virgin Atlantic Travel Group as Associate General Counsel, including the airline, travel company and cargo businesses sitting on the Commercial Leadership Team and as Board advisor to Virgin Atlantic Foundation the charity which provides STEM support for the schools in local communities for Virgin Atlantic’s key destinations.

James heads up the legal and compliance team for lululemon in EMEA. A NASDAQ 100 company founded in Vancouver, lululemon is a premium technical athletic apparel brand with a global footprint. James’ team is new to lululemon’s EMEA region where it is supporting every aspect of the growth of its regional business – across supply chain, marketing, compliance, brand protection, digital and its routes to market.