Activewear brand TALA announces appointment of Sally Hughes as its new CEO and Verity Linnell as CFO
Activewear brand TALA has appointed Sally Hughes as CEO and Verity Linnell as CFO. In a LinkedIn post, TALA Founder Grace Beverley said: “This feels like a really big moment. I'm so pleased to share that Sally Hughes has been appointed CEO at TALA, after a brilliant stint leading the team as our interim CEO this year to date.”
She added: “Anyone who's worked with Sally knows she brings a rare mix of deep industry knowledge and genuine care for the people and business she's building with. She has 20 years of experience in this space, and, even more importantly, really lives our TALA values.”
Linnell, meanwhile, becomes CFO having previously worked at the likes of Cuisinart, Pai Skincare, Together Group, and Farfetch.
Beverley commented: “When I sat down to write this post, I started reflecting on the significance of bringing in Sally and Verity not only for TALA, but in the context of the industry we’re within too. We built TALA on the idea of women building products for women, in an industry where that's still very, very rare, especially when it comes to C-suite roles. If you’ve been around these parts for a while, you won’t need me to tell you that female founded businesses get a tiny fraction of the funding of their male counterparts (2%!!) and even when we do get backing, leadership tends to become a man’s world the higher up you go.”
“So welcoming these two brilliant women to our C-suite, at a venture backed company built on exactly that principle, means, quite frankly, a hell of a lot to me. We’re achieving what’s pretty much statistically impossible, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Beverley concluded: “TALA is full of life at the moment, off the back of opening two new stores in six months last year. Since then we’ve seen our viral cocoon hoodie take off, released our innovative new fabric, Softset - activewear made with naturally derived fibres, held this summer’s most talked-about brand trip (Hotel TALA, iykyk), and hosted hundreds of our community members at our events.”
“There's so much planned over the next year, and I'm so happy Sally will be building it with me, alongside Verity and the whole 75-strong team. I'm also about to step into a big moment of my own, as I head off for a few months of maternity leave, which any founder will know feels daunting when you’ve dedicated so many years to your business-shaped-baby. But I get to do it knowing TALA is in excellent hands, which is more than any founder could ask for.”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Physical stores will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
