Dan Lett Leads Bunzl Distribution Through Growth

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For the past twenty-six years, Dan Lett has prided himself on building an agile legal department at Bunzl North America that has kept pace with rapid growth.

He became the company’s sole in-house attorney in 1998 as the company expanded. By the time he spoke to Modern Counsel in 2017, the company had nearly quadrupled its annual revenue and developed a legal department of four attorneys. Over the past seven years, the business has continued to grow, has diversified its products and services, and has entered new markets. Meanwhile, the legal team has added two more attorneys to its ranks and has overseen the completion of twenty-five acquisitions representing approximately $1.5 billion of acquired sales.

While playing a significant role in that growth has been gratifying, Lett believes the department’s most important accomplishment is related to its culture.

“Our team has a culture of collaboration and togetherness,” says the general counsel and executive vice president of corporate development. “We care for each other personally, celebrate successes, and share challenges both in and out of the office. We’ve created something that’s well-respected in the organization and [we] are looked at as partners that can help solve problems. As a result, we’ve become more embedded in the business.”

As the business has grown, so has the volume of legal work and the kinds of challenges Lett and his team have taken on. The company has contended with increased regulation activity, more compliance, and technical requirements in core sectors in addition to evolving consumer expectations. While Lett’s primary focus has been on meeting acquisition targets, cultivating those relationships, and bringing new businesses to the organization, he says these factors necessitate a shift in how he prioritizes his work.

“Because our business has grown so much, I’ll be redirecting more efforts back to the legal side of things and we will add team members to our corporate development group to handle negotiations and transactions,” he explains. “Our talented and growing team accepts these challenges and that affords me the time to balance my work on strategic issues with our corporate development initiatives.”

Lett prioritizes “fit” when finding the right people for his high performing legal team, a trait that isn’t always reflected by a lawyer’s pedigree.

“Bunzl is a ‘roll up your sleeves,’ hardworking, results-oriented business, and legal needs to know how to work in that environment and how to address the dynamic commercial team’s wants and needs in a way that’s collaborative,” he says. “Lawyers can be a lot of things, and very good lawyers might be more experienced or accomplished than my team, but if they don’t fit, that’s not the most optimal situation. By and large, it comes down to personality, fit, and demeanor.”

“Our talented and growing team accepts these challenges and that affords me the time to balance my work on strategic issues with our corporate development initiatives.”

Dan Lett

Teasing out whether a candidate fits the mold is a group effort, Lett says. Members of his team conduct multiple interviews with viable candidates. Afterwards, the team comes to a decision together. That process is reflective of Lett’s collaborative and hands-off approach to leading. He trusts in his people, and he’s a firm believer in giving them accountability and autonomy.

“If they have a project, it’s their project,” he says. “I’m always there to support, but they’re professionals and I let them run, let them make decisions, and move things out of their way in order for them to do it. They don’t need me looking over their shoulder. I believe having that accountability and autonomy gives people confidence in what they’re doing and leads to better performances.”

Nick Lamb, partner at Thompson Coburn LLP, recognizes Lett’s leadership and his ability to build a strong team. “As Dan’s outside counsel and good friend for almost twenty-five years, I have been fortunate to have a front-row seat watching him build a collaborative legal team that is thriving,” Lamb says. “Bunzl has been the direct beneficiary of the hard work of that team in its continued growth.”

Another important part of Lett’s approach is giving his team space to develop and grow in the company.

“If someone has a passion for a topic, experience, or an interest in something, we do all we can to let them take that on,” Lett emphasizes. “I encourage people to go to different areas or business units and don’t hold them back.” By giving his team the ability to explore, he makes their world more interesting and makes them more dedicated employees.

Looking forward, Lett is excited to continue to help guide the business during its “growth mode.” His corporate development team is identifying acquisition targets in its core sectors and in new ones while maintaining “a robust pipeline of quality targets,” he says.

“We’re growing through both acquisition—which has always been a key pillar of ours—but also by organic growth,” Lett says. “Our team has really been focused on both, but on the organic side, we’re working really closely with the businesses, understanding what they’re trying to accomplish, how they’re trying to grow, if they’re making changes in their business, and how we can support them.”

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