Professionals: Boost for corporate team; Law firm advises on logistics deal

FREETH’S Sheffield office has recently recruited Caroline Thomas and Emily Pogson into its corporate team.

Sheffield corporate partner Peter Crawford said: “We are delighted to have Caroline and Emily with us.  They are both dynamic and enthusiastic young lawyers who will provide a real benefit to our clients.  Their recruitment also highlights the fact that we are a growing team which is absolutely committed to the Sheffield marketplace.”

Their appointments have come at a busy time for Freeth’s Sheffield corporate team, which has completed five deals in the last two months.

At the beginning of June, the team advised the exiting shareholders on their disposal of Gordon Lamb Group Limited to Vertu, alongside Paul Singleton, who was the lead corporate finance advisor to the sellers.

Mr Crawford said: “This was quite a complex deal, which involved corporate, tax, real estate, development, employment and environmental lawyers.  The number of practice areas involved really highlighted the strength in depth which Freeths’s Sheffield office is quickly acquiring – every Freeths lawyer involved in the deal was based in Sheffield.”

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THE corporate team at the Leeds office of leading law firm Mills & Reeve has advised Lancaster-based RG Bassett & Sons on its acquisition by Stoke-based S J Bargh.

Logistics group S J Bargh, which specialises in milk collection and distribution and whose customers include Arla Foods, Joseph Heler, and Müller Milk, has acquired RG Bassett & Sons, which trades as Bassetts, for an undisclosed sum.

Bassetts, which dates back to 1897, employs 100 people at an 11-acre site in the West Midlands. The company, which has a turnover of £8.7m, will continue to operate as a standalone brand within S J Bargh Group.

Claire Bassett, RG Bassett & Sons director, said: “As the owner directors at Bassetts neared their chosen retirement age a decision was made, after five generations stretching back to 1897, to join the S J Bargh family.

“We are delighted, because we know there is a very bright future ahead with S J Bargh, not least because they share our family values and complement our services.”

Mills & Reeve corporate partner Paul Johnson, said: “We were pleased to advise the Bassett family on the sale to S J Bargh. The deal, which will ensure the Bassetts name will continue and the family can rest assured that the company is in the hands of a thriving business which shares its beliefs and values.”