After starting her career at Halliwell’s in Manchester (which included a secondment to Manchester City), Siobhan qualified as a commercial litigator with DWF before moving in-house with JD Sports. She became General Counsel and Co Sec in 2015 and in that role had global responsibility for legal, risk, compliance and governance functions during a period of unprecedented growth.
Siobhan and her team navigated the business through regulatory issues, a considerable amount of M&A activity and major commercial projects. She was also a trustee of the JD Foundation, a network of charities that support young people in many different ways.
Siobhan lives in Bury and has a nine-year old son, Ruari. Away from work, Siobhan likes to spend time with her family – often by the side of a football pitch cheering on her son! She is a big fan of Manchester United and enjoys travelling, usually to various sporting events.
So, before she becomes too busy for interviews, we took the opportunity to ask her a few questions about her career and her experience.
Q&A with Siobhan Almond
So, Siobhan, what would you say are your main areas of expertise?
As a General Counsel, there are very few legal issues that I have not encountered. But I’d say the key ones are general commercial, Mergers & Acquisitions, company secretarial/governance and regulatory work.
And what work do you particularly enjoy?
I enjoy sitting down with people and understanding what drives them, what their aims are for their business, what keeps them awake at night and working alongside them to help them with all of those things. Having been a part of a very successful business which has grown very quickly, I have seen how challenging it is to be an executive or founder of a business on that journey and to have good people around you as a support network is key.
What attributes do your clients value about you?
I am reliable and extremely hard working and I’m calm in a crisis. I have learnt that saying no is rarely the answer – it is important to find solutions and solve problems to enable a business to achieve its goals.
Of what achievement in your career are you most proud?
I’m lucky enough to have had many career highlights and to have had some great experiences. However, I would say the achievement I’m most proud of is a $500m acquisition of a listed business in the US.
And finally, why did you choose to work with TLD?
During my career so far, I have had very varied experience with lots of businesses of all sizes. For the next stage in my career, I am keen to use that experience to work with different organisations requiring support from a legal, governance or risk perspective and to share some of the things I’ve learned in my career to date. I’d like to maintain a diverse and varied workflow and client base. I thrive in fast paced, high pressure situations and enjoy working with businesses who are very driven in their goals.
If you’re interested in working with Siobhan or any of our other Client Legal Directors, then do get in touch.
