People on the Move: Addleshaw Goddard; CMS; FRP

Addleshaw Goddard has announced the promotion of Michael Rainey and Sara Gilmore to partner in its Manchester office, bringing the total number of partners in the region up to 47.

Michael joined AG as an associate in the Manchester commercial team in 2015, specialising in regulated procurement, and now heads up its public and utilities procurement team, as well as playing a key role for a number of the firm’s biggest clients.

As a partner he will focus on strengthening the firm’s specialist procurement offering, as well as developing clients in regulated sectors such as transport, energy and health, continuing the growth of the firm’s international procurement work and guiding UK clients through the upcoming changes in procurement regulation following Brexit.

Sara trained at Addleshaw Goddard before qualifying into its Leeds property team in 2006.

She joined the firm’s infrastructure, projects and energy (IPE) practice in 2008, gaining extensive experience in both the transport and energy sectors.

For the past three years Sara has chaired the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Transport Forum, including being a representative on the British Chamber of Commerce Transport Experts Panel.

Moving forward, Sara will transfer to the firm’s Manchester office, where she will lead on developing its work in the nuclear sector, as well as serving as the lead partner on a number of the firm’s energy clients.

Sara and Michael are two of 13 new partners promoted across the firm, 60% of which are female, underscoring the firm’s growing commitment to nurturing a culture centred on equality and inclusion.

The number of partner promotions at the firm is an increase on last year, reflecting the rapidly growing nature of the business.

They cover all four of the firm’s divisions, with two in its finance and projects, five in corporate and commercial, one in real estate and five in its litigation divisions.

Welcoming the new Partners, Mike O’Connor, head of Addleshaw Goddard’s Manchester office, said: “These individuals have both made a huge contribution to the growth of our teams in the North, and are a great reflection of the broad range of diverse talent we hold across the business, so I am delighted to welcome them both to the partnership.

“As partners, Sara and Michael will play an important role in helping us to achieve our ambitions to further develop our offering in the North West, and continue to deliver a quality service and real impact for our clients.”

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International law firm CMS has appointed Geraldine Ryan as a partner in its litigation and arbitration practice, based in the firm’s Manchester office.

She joins from Hill Dickinson where she was national head of the commercial litigation and dispute resolution team and head of the Manchester office.

Geraldine has more than 20 years’ experience in high profile, high value and complex litigation, including judicial review and arbitration, and notable successes in the Court of Appeal.

She specialises in commercial dispute resolution, breach of contract and professional negligence claims, and is also recognised for her work in defamation and reputation management issues and phone hacking claims.

She regularly acts on a variety of matters across several sectors including sports, aviation, property and retail, pharmaceutical and manufacturing.

Ranked in Chambers and as a leading individual in The Legal 500, Geraldine is “a respected figure in the market” and is lauded by clients as “an incredibly hard-working, organised and efficient lawyer who has great experience in the courts.”

Jonathan Warne, head of litigation and arbitration at CMS, said: “We are delighted that Geraldine has joined us to support the continued growth and development of our litigation and arbitration team.

Geraldine Ryan

“She is a highly skilled and established commercial litigator with a proven track record and excellent reputation.

“Her extensive experience in various sectors and specialist areas complements the team’s capabilities and enables us to enhance our cross-practice offering and to capture new growth opportunities in the North.”

Mark Haywood, CMS partner and head of North, said: “CMS is deeply invested in, and committed to, the North – a region with enormous energy, enterprise and potential. Geraldine joining the firm is further demonstration of this commitment, particularly in these challenging times.

“Given her wealth of experience as a commercial litigator and a business leader, we are excited about the potential client opportunities this brings and how we can drive forward our efforts to deepen our offering in the North.”

Geraldine said: “CMS has an excellent reputation in Manchester and represents the ideal platform for me to continue building my practice. I look forward to working with the team and to applying my experience to broaden our offering and to expand into growth areas such as reputational risk management and public procurement.”

Geraldine’s appointment builds on the recent promotion of 10 disputes partners in the UK, effective May 1, 2020, as part of the firm’s annual global partner promotions round.

Globally, the CMS disputes practice has more than 300 partners supported by 900 fee-earners with CMS UK having one of the largest groups of contentious lawyers of any City law firm, with disputes lawyers spanning across all the firm’s sectors and UK offices.

The firm won UK Firm of the Year for Dispute Resolution at The Legal 500 Awards 2018 and Corporate/Commercial Litigation Team of the Year at Legal Week Commercial Litigation & Arbitration Awards 2019. It also had the highest number of cases profiled in The Lawyer Top 20 Cases to Watch 2019.

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Specialist business advisory firm FRP has appointed Heath Snyder as a partner to its Manchester corporate finance team.

With more than 25 years’ industry experience, Heath has spent two decades at the Big Four, having held senior roles at PWC and Deloitte.

He joins FRP from Shore Capital, where he was a director in the corporate broking and advisory division, and previously held roles at Cenkos Securities and as managing director of private equity at Babcock Brown Asia.

Heath specialises in advising owner-managers, private equity-backed and listed companies. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, strategic options reviews, debt and equity fund raisings.

His private equity focus has seen him work as an investor in a private equity fund and sit on the boards of PE-backed companies.

With broad sector expertise, Heath’s specialisms include consumer products, retail, e-commerce, digital, fintech and medtech.

Notable past deals include advising on the buyout of Quorn-producer Marlow Foods from Astra Zeneca, the public to private de-listing of Stirling Group, manufacturer of M&S lingerie, and the $200m sale of medtech cable and sensors business LHI to Carlisle Inc, on behalf of 3i.

Heath joins the corporate finance team at FRP in Manchester and will focus on growing the team’s mid-market corporate finance practice in the region.

Ben Woolrych, partner at FRP in Manchester, said: “Heath joins us during unprecedented times, but his deep industry insight will be invaluable in helping drive growth and an upswing in regional activity as the market recovers.

Heath Snyder

“We’re committed to growing our North West footprint and developing one of the most agile and experienced practices in the region.

“Heath is a highly regarded specialist and is well connected in the market, and his private equity background gives him a unique perspective to advise owner-managers on their strategic options.

“His expertise will add considerable emphasis to our existing Manchester team alongside corporate finance specialist Adrian Gare.”

Heath Snyder said: “FRP stands apart from the crowd given its broad advisory skillset across a company’s lifecycle, which will be invaluable in these challenging times for businesses in the region. The firm is an ambitious, entrepreneurial practice with a great culture and a commitment to growth in the region.

“The North West is the second largest private equity market in Europe, and its pool of innovation, talent and established global connectivity make it a focal point for investment.

“It’s clear the team recognises there is a real opportunity for growth here in the medium term, and I look forward to returning to my corporate finance roots and helping to strengthen the team’s regional presence.”