People: Freeths; Clarke Willmott; Birmingham City Football Club

Law firm Freeths has established a new trust, estates and tax (TeT) offering in Birmingham following the appointment of director Hannah Turner, who joins from Gateley Legal.

Turner brings over 12 years of experience specialising in estate and personal tax planning, estate administration, trust creation and administration and court of protection matters, for a wide range of clients with a variety of financial and personal backgrounds.

In her new role, Turner will work alongside partner and national head of trusts, estates and tax Louise Lewis as well as supporting the wider UK dispute team including partners and joint national head of private client services Mark Keeley and Sarah Foster.

Sarah Foster said: “We are delighted to welcome Hannah into our continuously thriving, expanding team. Through Hannah, we are excited to now be able to deliver bespoke private client advice directly into the Birmingham market.”

Turner added: “I’m looking forward to working alongside Louise and the wider national team to strengthen Freeths’ TeT offering in Birmingham, including where Freeths is appointed as an independent administrator or trustee and there is a need to work closely with the private client dispute resolution team to administer complex and challenging estates and trusts.”

The procurement team at law firm Clarke Willmott has been enhanced by the arrival of Brendan Ryan as a partner.

A specialist in public procurement and subsidy control (formerly state aid), Ryan worked for international law firms in London prior to joining Clarke Willmott from the Competition and Markets Authority.

His practice includes working with public sector organisations and utilities to design and run tender processes, defending them against challenges and managing risk when modifying existing public contracts.

Brendan Ryan

Ryan has experience advising on exemptions from competitive procurement, including making direct awards and contract extensions and providing support to bidders seeking to win major public contracts.

Most recently, at the Competition and Markets Authority, he was involved in setting up the new Subsidy Advice Unit, an independent body tasked with reporting on relatively high-value subsidies referred by UK public authorities.

He has worked with clients across a range of sectors including infrastructure, construction, social housing and regeneration, outsourcing, energy, healthcare, transport and charities. He also has a wider background of advising on competition, public law, utilities regulation and international trade.

Ryan said: “With the Procurement Act 2023 coming into force later this year, it’s a really exciting time to have joined Clarke Willmott. This new legislation will have an impact on contracts entered into by public authorities and utilities, many of them clients of the firm, including those in the social housing sector. Equally, the new UK subsidy control regime is already making its presence felt, particularly about grant funding arrangements for social housing and regeneration projects.”

Richard Moore, a partner in the procurement team at Clarke Willmott, said: “We are delighted to welcome Brendan to the firm. His non-contentious procurement and subsidy control expertise will be a welcome addition to Clarke Willmott’s existing offering to its social housing and public sector clients and to those clients in the private sector looking to bid for public sector contracts.”

Vicky Kells, joint head of Clarke Willmott’s social housing sector, said: “It’s great to welcome Brendan on board following our recent recruitment of two other new partners in the shape of Lynn James and Neelam Sharma. Brendan’s expertise further bolsters what our growing team can offer to clients in the fast-moving social housing sector.”