Serve Legal, the UK and Ireland’s leading provider of compliance auditing services, is proud to announce the appointment of Kate Rand, as its new Chief Executive Officer. Having previously held multiple C-suite positions whilst supporting founders to grow their businesses including COO, CPO and CEO in the retail sector. She was most recently CEO of COCOON.
Kate joins Serve Legal with an inspiring track record of leadership across retail, hospitality, HR, and technology. Her relevant experience and skills from focusing on high growth, founder led organisations will enable her to scale the business sustainably and strengthen operations in line with Serve Legal’s goals.
First starting with a BTEC in Fashion and a hands-on role in IT support, Kate’s early career quickly progressed to senior level positions including becoming Be At One’s first female General Manager and Area Manager and winning a prestigious Acorn Award (30 under 30) for her contribution to the hospitality industry.
Her career then moved into HR and compliance, becoming a compliance officer focusing on core areas such as mystery shopping, brand health checks, allergen and food safety standards, licensing, and general fire, health and safety. This hands-on experience gave her a deep understanding of the operational challenges businesses face in maintaining high compliance standards—making her uniquely equipped to lead Serve Legal to help its clients stay compliant, protect their reputations, and continuously improve performance.
Kate is part of the 30% Club, having been awarded a scholarship for an MBA at Warwick University as a woman inspiring change and empowering women in business leadership.
Kate holds two master’s degrees in Human Resource Management and Psychology, along with additional qualifications in Organisational Psychology and Psychometric Testing and an MBA from Warwick University. Her achievements have earned her recognition including Mogul’s Top 100 CHROs for DEI and HR’s Most Influential Practitioner.
What drew Kate to Serve Legal was the energy, ambition, and authenticity of its senior management team—a group where four members began their journeys as auditors at just 18 years old, just over a decade ago. A testament to Serve Legal’s commitment to developing young talent.
Kate was inspired by the company’s dual mission: supporting businesses with compliance while empowering young adults to grow and succeed in their careers.
Her own experience as a compliance officer and bar manager gave her a first-hand understanding of the pressures operators face—particularly around licensing. The importance of staying compliant and avoiding penalties or operational risks was something she dealt with daily. Serve Legal’s role in helping businesses maintain those standards and stay audit-ready is something she sees as vital and closely aligned with her own values and experience.
Kate immediately connected with our purpose-driven culture and she’s excited to help nurture the next generation of leaders.
“I appreciated how much Ed and the team genuinely care about their people,” said Kate. “From day one, it felt like a perfect culture fit – a place where people are heard, and ideas matter.”
Outgoing CEO Ed Heaver shared his enthusiasm: “Kate brings a unique blend of commercial acumen, people-first leadership, and operational excellence Her experience scaling businesses and developing teams makes her the perfect leader for Serve Legal’s next chapter.”
Outside of her professional commitments, Kate lives with her husband, Benjamin, and their three cats – Tolstoy, Oppenheimer, and Kimmy. Outside of work, Kate channels her energy into running, particularly ultramarathons as a passionate sportswoman. She also dedicates her time into training senior HR leads in Agile ways of working, which she's been doing for nearly 8 years and has had the honour of working with more than 600 HR leaders from incredible companies including Netflix, BMW, Experian, Google.
The team at Serve Legal have already seen how Kate’s passion and drive from both her personal and professional life will translate into inspiring leadership, strategic growth, and a continued commitment to developing a positive, high-performing culture.
Serve Legal is excited to welcome Kate as it continues to grow its impact in compliance auditing and beyond.