The Very Group ropes in former Asos CEO as non-executive director

The Very Group, which operates digital retailer Very, has appointed Nick Beighton as representative of global investment firm Carlyle and Paul O’Donnell as representative of international investment company IMI to the company’s board as non-executive directors.

The company said in a release that non-executive director Mark McMenemy has retired from the company's board. He re-joined the company in 2019 having given up executive roles to accommodate non-executive and consulting positions. McMenemy has chaired the board’s audit and risk committee and, most recently, its ESG committee. Prior to this, he was group finance director at The Very Group from 2012 to 2015.

Commenting on the new appointments, Nadhim Zahawi, non-executive chair of The Very Group, said: “I am delighted to welcome Nick and Paul to The Very Group’s board. Both bring a wide network of relationships, as well as leading expertise and unrivalled experience in helping ambitious businesses develop and grow.”

The company added that the new appointments Paul follow the announcement in February 2024 that the group had entered into a partnership with Carlyle and IMI, and that alongside a 125 million pounds funding package, of which 85 million pounds from Carlyle was immediately available for the company, each firm would take a seat on the company’s board.

Beighton is non-executive chair of online designer marketplace Secret Sales, as well as non-executive director at online fashion retailer Lookiero and at Raging Bull, a heritage clothing brand. He is the former CEO of Asos, which he joined in 2009 as CFO and COO, becoming CEO in 2015. Prior to Asos, he was head of finance and an executive board member at Matalan, responsible for business change and technology, and has also been finance director of Luminar Plc.

O’Donnell has over 20 years of M&A and corporate finance experience, serving as an advisor to public and private companies, as well as private equity funds. He is currently a non-executive director and audit committee member at Nordic Aviation Capital and EnerMech, and he has served as an alternate Director at McLaren Group. O’Donnell was previously a managing director at Blackstone, prior to which he worked at Close Brothers Corporate Finance (now DC Advisory) and PwC, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.