Sylvie Freund Pickavance

Lay Governor

Sylvie Freund Pickavance is Group Director of Strategy and Business Development for Value Retail’s global business, The Bicester Village Shopping Collection.

The Bicester Village Shopping Collection in Europe and China, is widely recognized as the highest performing shopping centre portfolio in the world, achieving more than 20 years of double- digit growth, since the opening of its first project, Bicester Village, in 1995. In her role, Sylvie is responsible for delivering long-term innovation and development strategies for the group.

A strategic leader focused on luxury and experiential retail, Sylvie began her career with Cartier, where she spent 13 years in Asia and North America, operating the retail and marketing divisions. She honed her global management skills with De Beers jewelers, where she served as International Sales Director for five years, setting up businesses and subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East, before being appointed CEO of Paris based Princesse tam tam, succeeding the founders after the company was sold to Fast Retailing in 2006. Under Sylvie’s leadership, Princesse tam tam expanded its global distribution and introduced a pioneering omnichannel strategy.

In 2009 Sylvie joined Value Retail, initially as Business Director overseeing several of the Group’s Villages; Bicester Village in the UK, Kildare Village in Ireland, Fidenza Village in Italy and La Vallée Village in Paris. Sylvie led the launch of the Group’s first global CRM initiative and assumed the role of Group Director of Strategy and Business Development in 2014.

Sylvie is a graduate of ESCP Business School in Paris and Shenzhen University in China.

She is a member of the jury for The World Retail Congress Awards and gives her time to mentoring young designers and charities in the UK and Italy. She also sits on the Court of the Glasgow Caledonian University.

Sylvie is a French national and is married with three children. She lives in London.