Online UK grocery business Ocado Group has lined up Mollie Stoker to take over as group general counsel, replacing Neill Abrams who is set to retire after a quarter of a century in the role.
Stoker will rejoin from Britvic in September, where she has spent the past two years as GC and company secretary. She was previously deputy GC at Ocado until her departure. In her new role she will have responsibility for all legal matters.
Tim Steiner, Ocado’s CEO, said: “We are delighted that Mollie will re-join Ocado to become group general counsel and company secretary. Her previous role at Ocado and subsequent role at Britvic make her an ideal candidate to take on this role.”
Prior to her two year spell as GC at soft drinks-maker Britvic, she spent just over two years at Ocado, having joined from DWF, where she was also group GC. She previously had stints at Japanese drinks business Suntory Beverage & Food’s European unit as business development director and GC of Suntory’s at-the-time newly formed UK and Ireland business following its acquisition of the Lucozade and Ribena brands from GSK.
Before moving in-house, Stoker worked in private practice, first at Slaughter and May, then K&L Gates and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Abrams, meanwhile, will leave the company after 25 years, having been part of the founding team at Ocado, helping steer its development from start-up to publicly-traded online retail business. He will remain on at the business until November to ensure a smooth transition. Prior to joining Ocado in 2000, Abrams spent two years as a barrister at One Essex Court and nine years as counsel at Goldman Sachs.
Steiner said: “Neill retires with the gratitude of the board, leadership team and colleagues across Ocado. He has played an important leadership role at Ocado since our inception, leading the legal and governance functions through significant evolutions in the business and its development as a global technology and IP leader.”
In other recent retail-related moves, last week Starbucks said it was on the hunt for a new legal head after it announced chief legal officer Brad Lerman will leave the company in the coming months. And in March, Domino’s Pizza promoted assistant GC Ryan Mulally to replace Kevin Morris, who retired from the role.
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