Sabbatical helped inspire Noon to become ‘rising star’

‘RISING star’ Matt Noon reckons taking a year’s sabbatical from his role as a corporate lawyer has helped give him the impetus to become nationally recognized for his work in the M&A field.

The 39-year-old partner at Liverpool-based Hill Dickinson was recently named in Legal Week’s rising stars list.

The former semi-professional footballer caught the eye with transactions which included acting for Stobart Group on the £200m partial disposal of the Eddie Stobart transport group as well as acting for Carrs Milling Industries on the acquisition of Chirton Engineering.

Noon, a graduate of Durham University, worked at DLA Piper and Halliwells before joining Hill Dickinson – a 200-year-old law firm – in 2010.

However, his career was interrupted in 2005 when he took 12 months to follow his girlfriend to London, where he worked in recruitment.

“My one-year sabbatical in 2005 came after a very busy spell as a junior lawyer at DLA Piper,” said Noon. “Being out of the profession for a year made me realise that despite the demands on lawyers and challenges faced, not being involved in making transactions and deals happen was something I very much missed and needed to get back into.”

“Liverpool is a smaller market place than Manchester where there are loads of corporate lawyers,” said Noon. “I do a mix of local, North West and international stuff. It’s a very rewarding job.”