People on the Move: Glaisyers Solicitors; DLA Piper; Peaks & Plains Housing Trust; JMW Solicitors
Glaisyers Solicitors has appointed William Pinnock as head of corporate.
He joins the Manchester- and London-based firm from DAC Beachcroft, where he was a senior associate.
Mr Pinnock’s appointment brings the headcount at Glaisyers’ corporate and commercial practice to five.
He joined during the current lockdown period and was inducted into his position remotely.
Mr Pinnock has practised corporate and commercial law in Manchester for 20 years, having previously worked for City firms. His areas of expertise include general mergers and acquisitions, equity and loan investment, secured banking, international mergers, advising charities and corporate governance.
His experience includes a number of IPOs and reverse takeovers on the AIM stock market. His commercial expertise also extends to franchising and retail centre management agreements.
Another lockdown appointment has seen Glaisyers’ litigation department bolstered by the arrival of a new solicitor, Clare Oliver. She joins Glaisyers from the Manchester firm Kuits, where she completed her legal training and, latterly, was employed as a solicitor.
David Jones, equity partner at Glaisyers Solicitors, said: “It would have been great to have welcomed William and Clare in person, and I look forward to being able to do so in due course. I am, though, really pleased we have been able to get them set up and playing a full part in their teams remotely.
“I look forward to all getting together at the office once it is safe to do so but, in the meantime, I couldn’t be prouder of the way the whole Glaisyers team have managed to pull together and continue delivering a superb service for clients while respecting all the current social distancing rules.”
In late 2018 Glaisyers underwent a management buy-in led by equity partners David Jones and David Marlor, backed by the international professional services group ETL Global.
The Manchester- and London-based firm increased its headcount by 25% in 2019 and now employs more than 70 people.
Glaisyers’ staff have been working from home since before the formal lockdown began. The smooth transition to remote working was aided by a significant investment in new IT systems that took place in Autumn 2019.
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DLA Piper has announced that Manchester-based corporate lawyer Christopher Wilson has been promoted to partner as part of the firm’s annual promotion round.
Chris joined DLA Piper in 2014 and his practice focuses on M&A and private equity work, regularly undertaking complex international transactions for clients.
DLA Piper’s North West Head of corporate, James Kerrigan, said: “We remain focused on high-quality investment through internal promotions and we are delighted that Chris will be joining the partnership.
“He is an excellent lawyer who has a very strong reputation in both M&A and private equity and his promotion is well-deserved.”
Christopher Wilson
DLA Piper’s office managing partner for the North West offices, Mark Beardwood, added: “I am delighted to welcome Chris to the partnership.
“The North West corporate team consistently performs at the highest level and has delivered another stand out performance over the last year. We have a very talented and dedicated team with a number of high-quality partners and Chris will help us get even stronger.”
DLA Piper’s North West corporate practice has had a strong year advising on deals valued at more than £6bn.
The team has acted for a number of prominent private companies, private equity houses and other institutions, public companies and leading entrepreneurs, as well as a number of leading global corporate organisations including SDL, Nichols, Flowtech Fluidpower, NSG Group, Visa, NCC Group, Bertelsmann Group and Talk Talk Telecom Group.
Significant recent deals include advising Talk Talk Telecom Group on the £200m sale of FibreNation to Cityfibre, the shareholders on the sale of Fragrance Oils to Givaudin SA, the management of Keoghs on the exit and management buyout backed by the Davies Group, LDC and management on the sale of Pure Cottages Group to Sykes Holiday Cottages, Beech Tree Private Equity on the MBO of Avid Insurance Services, and the shareholders of SRL Traffic Systems on the MBO backed by LDC.
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Peaks & Plains Housing Trust has appointed Jane McCall as its new chair.
Jane will succeed John Hudson.
She brings with her extensive strategic and governance experience across housing, health and education sectors.
Jane held the position of executive director of neighbourhoods at Trafford Housing Trust for 10 years.
She has also been a non-executive director for the Office for Legal Complaints (the Legal Ombudsman), and as deputy chair at the University Hospital South Manchester (Wythenshawe Hospital).
Jane currently has non-executive roles at the Information Commissioner’s Office, and at the House of Commons Commission. In 2018, Jane became chair of Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Foundation Trust.
She said: “Our social purpose as an organisation and sector is more evident now than ever before.
“Despite the economic, regulatory and compliance challenges that face us all in the current climate, I am confident the Trust has the right team in place to tackle these.
Jane McCall
“Peaks & Plains is a strong organisation with an excellent reputation that I have followed throughout my own career. I look forward to working with the new executive team and being part of the organisation’s next chapter.”
Mark Howden, interim chief executive, said: “Jane’s passion and enthusiasm for the Trust is already evident.
“Her skillset and track record reinforce the robust action plan that we are working closely with the Regulator for Social Housing to put in place, and we very much look forward to welcoming her as our new chair.
“We would like to thank John for his years of dedicated service to the Trust.
“He leaves an organisation that is financially robust and has a clear strategic direction on how we plan to enhance and restore the governance standard the Trust is known for. Throughout his tenure, John’s commitment to the Trust’s purpose has been a constant.”
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Manchester-based JMW Solicitors LLP has hired two partners to further strengthen the firm’s expanding London office.
David Smith joins the commercial litigation team and Nick Lewis joins the sports law team.
David Smith specialises in residential property rights and agency and has experience of a wide range of property litigation.
He is particularly well known for his work in landlord and agent regulation, especially landlord licensing and complex litigation on new issues.
He has advised local and national governments, large and small landlords and tenants and lettings and estate agents, including Foxtons, Hamptons, Savills, KFH and Chestertons.
David has written and contributed to several books and journal articles. His most recent book, ‘A Practical Guide to GDPR for Property Lawyers’, will be published in June 2020.
He is also highly sought after as a speaker and lecturer. He joins from Anthony Gold Solicitors, where he was a partner, and the Residential Landlords Association, where he was policy director.
Nick Lewis specialises in all aspects of governance, litigation and regulation within the sports and healthcare sectors.
Nick Lewis (courtesy DWF)
He acts for a wide variety of clients from international federations, national governing bodies, as well as professional and amateur sports clubs to the individual professional and amateur sports athletes and players.
His experience includes advising on the US Anti-Doping Agency investigation into Alberto Salazar and representing Dr Eva Carneiro against Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho. He joins from DWF.
Lee Adams, head of JMW London, said: “With the hires of David and Nick, we continue to add depth to our London office in property litigation and sports law, two areas JMW is strong in nationally. We are delighted to welcome them to the team.”
Joy Kingsley, senior partner, said: “We have enjoyed significant growth in the London market since we opened in May 2019.
“These hires bring the team in London to 29 partners. This expansion demonstrates our clear commitment to the London market and we look forward to continuing this growth throughout 2020 and beyond.
“We have continued to hire exceptional partners during these uncertain times and have made six hires where negotiations have been completed remotely. This is a good time to build for the future.”
JMW Solicitors, which also has a Liverpool office, has been ranked number 33 in 2020 The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies’ to work for listing. The listing is compiled from a survey of company staff across all sectors. JMW was the second law firm within the top 100.
