Legal news: Shoosmiths: Pannone Corporate & more
SHOOSMITHS has raided rival DWF for a sixth time this year with the hire of Ben Woof, who has joined its asset finance team in Manchester.
The appointment of Woof, who specialises in regulated and unregulated asset finance and financial services, means the team has doubled in size in the last 12 months.
Woof joins former DWF colleagues Janet Dalton, Suzanne Taylor and Aleea Bhatoo in the firm’s Manchester team.
Dalton, who leads Shoosmiths’ financial services team in Manchester, joined the firm from DWF with associates Suzanne and Aleea in early 2015. Their appointments coincided with the recruitment of partner Roger Potgieter and solicitor Charlotte Healey, both formerly at DWF, into its Birmingham asset finance team.
Shoosmiths’ asset finance partner Stephen Dawson said: “Ben’s appointment comes as a direct response to ever-increasing client demand for top quality advice in the asset finance and regulatory sectors. Our team has carved out a reputation for leading the market in the region and the fact that we continue to attract legal talent from other law firms in the city is testament to this.
“We now have an exceptional team in place that will enable us to pursue further growth ambitions and are confident that we will grow significantly over the next 12 to 18 months as we build our client base and attract new talent.”
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FOUR new client wins are being celebrated by Manchester-based Pannone Corporate.
The Deansgate-based firm has been appointed by parcel delivery firm DHL Express UK to act on litigation and debt recovery matters; its corporate recovery team has won a place on the panel of national lender, Secure Trust Bank; its regulatory team has won work with Burton-on-Trent-based specialist pharmaceutical company, Clinigen and Manchester-based Sudlows, which designs, builds and maintains data centres for public and private companies, has also become a new client of the firm.
Nancy Lamb, commercial manager at Sudlows, said: “We are a vibrant, entrepreneurial and fast-growing company and needed a legal firm which is commercial, has a non-stuffy approach and who understands our needs. Pannone Corporate is a perfect cultural fit and we look forward to further developing our working relationship.”
Pannone Corporate managing partner Paul Jonson said: “When we launched the firm in 2014, our aim was to build on our reputation of providing first class and pragmatic commercial advice, at sensible fees, to both entrepreneurial and more established businesses that are leaders in their sectors.”
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JON Close, a corporate partner at TLT in Manchester led a team which advised burrito restaurant operatpor on the acquisition of Pinto Restaurants (Holdings) Limited, which has five Mexican restaurants in Edinburgh and Glasgow. This deal took Manchester-based Barburrito’s portfolio from 12 to 17 UK restaurants.
TLT also advised Barburrito and its management team in relation to the Business Growth Fund’s further investment in the company. To date, the fund has provided Barburrito with a total investment of £11.35m since March 2012.
The cross-jurisdictional TLT team also included corporate associate, Kelly Harvey; corporate solicitor, Nicola Bilner; real estate partner, Brian Armour; real estate solicitor, Fiona Bell; and tax solicitor, Natalie Stoter.
Close said: “This was an exciting deal to work on as it marks a significant step for our client in realising its ambitious growth plans. For the first time they will have a presence in Scotland, a key target market and we are delighted to have helped Barburrito expand its geographical footprint further.”
Morgan Davies, chief executive of Barburrito added: “The TLT team have provided a top class service throughout the process and have been key to getting the deal over the line.”
