Professionals: Irwin Mitchell; DLA Piper
THE Leeds office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has recruited associate Robert Farrell to its banking and finance team.
His appointment follows the arrival of banking and finance partner Paddy Sturman at the start of the month as the Leeds office continues its drive to invest in and expand its business legal services division.
Mr Farrell advises lenders and borrowers on all aspects of banking and finance including real estate finance, corporate M&A, corporate and commercial banking and asset based lending.
He regularly advises The Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, and Santander and also has experience with loan and security arrangements with charities.
He said: “This is an exciting opportunity to join the largest law firm in Yorkshire and work closely with Paddy Sturman to help build a successful banking and finance offering in Leeds within an established and ambitious business legal team.”
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IRWIN MITCHELL has also announced the launch of Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, which combines the expertise of four specialist teams in one new brand, which it says is “next stage of the journey” to creating a market-leading private wealth business.
Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth will bring together the existing expertise of the teams from Berkeley Law, Berkeley Hurrell, Thomas Eggar and Irwin Mitchell.
The firm says it will offer significant strength and depth of bespoke legal and advisory services across the UK.
Berkeley Law, Berkeley Hurrell and Thomas Eggar’s wealth teams will begin the transition to the new Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth banner at the beginning of May. When complete it will have more than 40 partners and nearly 500 staff in 15 locations across the UK supporting clients. It will also offer clients wider access to the group’s complementary services, including its business legal services expertise. Thomas Eggar’s teams and buildings will switch to the Irwin Mitchell brand on May 31.
Craig Marshall, chief executive of the personal legal services division at Irwin Mitchell, which includes Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth, said: “We have a fantastic heritage across all four businesses with strong track records and great expertise in Berkeley Law, Berkeley Hurrell, Thomas Eggar and Irwin Mitchell.
“The launch of Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth is the next stage of our journey to becoming a market-leading service for private individuals. It builds on the fantastic reputation our teams already have for their expertise and client care.
“We have strength in depth as well as being able to offer clients access to the broader range of Irwin Mitchell’s legal services and expertise, and we will be looking to further strengthen our new team and increase our range of services over the coming months. We think that is a compelling offering which will be attractive to our existing clients and those who choose Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth in the future.”
Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth will offer a wide range of specialist services for private clients including succession planning, reputation protection, family and divorce, probate and estate administration and town and country property. It will advise business owners and executives on their personal business wealth including succession planning, intellectual property, business law employment, commercial property and tax.
The news follows the merger between Irwin Mitchell and Thomas Eggar in December.
Mayfair-based private wealth boutique Berkeley Law was acquired by Irwin Mitchell in November 2014 along with high end conveyancing sister firm Berkeley Hurrell.
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DLA Piper has advised systems integrator and managed services provider Maintel Holdings (Maintel), on the company’s proposed, conditional reverse takeover of Azzurri Communications Group (Azzurri) for £48.5m.
Azzurri Communications is a technology and managed communications provider, offering a variety of communication services including telephony, mobile services, document management, workforce optimisation, security, unified communications as a service and managed services.
The acquisition is a key component in Maintel’s strategy to grow and diversify its revenue base and will further strengthen its market position across both the private and public sectors. A cross practice team from DLA Piper provided Maintel with legal advice on its proposed, conditional acquisition, re-admission to AIM and financing of the transaction.
The DLA Piper team was led by Rob McKie with corporate partner Charles Severs and assisted by associate Liam Freeman (Sheffield), alongside finance partner Anna Robson and senior associate Ben Roden (Leeds), Corporate Counsel Martin Penn (London) and associate Bryony Lunn (Leeds).
