The Legal 500

United Kingdom > East Midlands > Finance

Editorial sections

Other

All countries

Banking and finance

Browne Jacobson LLP increased its property finance capability with the hire of associate Nina Armstrong, to add to the acquisition and asset-backed finance expertise of Shaun McCabe and Julie Newton – ‘both very helpful, efficient and always keen to provide guidance’. Highlights included acting for Santander and Lloyds TSB on refinancings, including those of Nottingham Recycling (£6m) and Agellus Hotels (£9.75m). The team is on 15 bank panels, and has notable healthcare sector expertise.

Freeth Cartwright LLP has ‘excellent knowledge of the SME sector and how it operates, and banking practice/requirements’. The group is instructed by 14 institutional lenders, such as HSBC, Santander, and RBS, and has ‘the strongest regional coverage in terms of office presence and experienced lawyers’. The ‘very down-to-earth’ Phil Baigent has ‘an even temperament – no panics or over-reactions’; and John Heaphy is ‘amongst the best regional corporate lawyers’. Janet Rhodes’ understanding of property finance is ‘excellent and incredibly detailed’.

Gateley provides a ‘first-class service’ in acquisition and property finance, with Gareth John, Mark Rutherford and Andy Matthews noted as ‘leading individuals – all are very commercial’. 2010 saw a significant amount of refinancing as well as lending work; highlights included advising Leicester University on a £20m loan from Barclays.

Eversheds LLP’s banking team is concentrated in Birmingham. Stephen Kitts assisted Yorkshire Bank with the £60m funding of the MBO of Synseal Extrusions by HIG Capital.

‘One of the main players in the East Midlands marketplace’, Geldards LLP acts for both lenders and borrowers, with highlights including advising Santander on refinancing matters and acquisition loans in the healthcare sector. ‘Extremely practical’ team head Hugh Strickland is noted for his ‘corporate knowledge on facility letters and deal structuring’.

At Nelsons Solicitors Limited, the ‘very knowledgeable and experienced’ Michael Lodge ‘retains the “human touch”’. He has been joined in Derby by David Kaplan from Flint Bishop LLP; both are ‘excellent in their respective fields’ of corporate and asset-based lending, and acquisition and property finance for institutions and borrowers.

Shakespeares’ team features Roger Harcourt, whose expertise includes healthcare sector financings. Clients include Lloyds TSB and Santander Corporate.

Shoosmiths’ pan-Midlands team advises banks, such as Alliance & Leicester, RBS and HSBC, and corporates on refinancings, acquisitions and MBOs, and also investment and development funding across the residential, retail and commercial sectors.

Flint Bishop LLP has experience acting for lenders such as Bank of Scotland.

Harvey Ingram LLP assists a broad banking client base with acquisition finance, secured lending, leveraged finance and venture capital matters.

Keith Gilbert is the key contact at Howes 
Percival LLP.

Insolvency and corporate recovery

Actons’ advice to insolvency practitioners ‘reflects the vast experience amassed by the team’, with its ‘strong commercial acumen overlaying robust technical analysis of complex issues’. Practice head Nicky Calthrop-Owen and consultant Richard Leman ‘epitomise’ the team’s strong skill set and level of service, and Chris Murratt is noted for his ‘experience, knowledge and people-management skills’.

Dominic Offord at Browne Jacobson LLP, on the contentious side, acts for insolvency practitioners, and saw an increase in LPA receiverships in 2010. The team also advises shareholders and directors of companies facing administration and liquidation, on procedural and restructuring matters.

Eversheds LLP is a restructuring powerhouse. It acted on the administrative receivership of Trent Concrete in the region’s highest-profile matter of 2010, assisting the receivers to complete contracts for the Olympic village. Mark Wood’s dedicated team is on a host of bank panels for restructuring and also acts for IPs. It is ‘very professional, proactive; slightly expensive, but good dynamic advice and options/strategies are proposed’.

Gateley’s dedicated corporate recovery practice acted for most of the UK clearing banks as well as various accountants in 2010, on financial restructuring and security enhancement matters.

Freeth Cartwright LLP’s instructions derive largely from insolvency practitioners and have recently 
been geared towards restructuring and strategies for assisting business recoveries, or proceeding to formal insolvencies. Simon Baigent advised PwC in the liquidation and sale of West Midlands International Airport.

Cross-border insolvency is a specialism of Geldards LLP, which advises German banks and Irish debtors on ‘bankruptcy tourism’. Senior associate Anton Smith acted for Volksbank in the leading case Re Hagemeister. The ‘knowledgeable and proficient’ Adrian Slater heads up the team.

Harvey Ingram LLP handles contentious and non-contentious issues for SME directors and insolvency practitioners. Sean Moran heads the team.

The team at Nelsons Solicitors Limited includes 
the ‘extremely knowledgeable’ Stuart Vandermark 
and ‘rising star’ Emma Ward; they are ‘the people to go 
to in Nottingham’ for liquidations and personal insolvencies involving fraud and complex property transfers.

At Hewitsons LLP, the ‘top-drawer’ Dominic Hopkins is experienced in complex contentious matters; he is an ‘excellent litigator who can pick up the issues surrounding a case extremely quickly’; and David Browne is ‘capable of drilling through the bureaucracy’, and is recommended for insolvency sales and purchases. Insolvency is ‘a highly specialised industry in which few solicitors should tread. The firm is one of the few that does and should’.

Howes Percival LLP is ‘a good all-rounder’ for personal insolvency matters and representation of creditors and liquidators against directors. Deloitte, PKF and Smith Cooper instructed the team in 2010.

Carl Mifflin at Shakespeares specialises in corporate and personal insolvency and turnaround work. Work highlights in 2010 included the £3m sale of a caravan park by its administrators, and successful claims against the former directors of a company totaling £1m.

Rachel McCahill-Brown at Smith Partnership is an experienced insolvency specialist and ‘technically excellent’, and is noted for her ‘depth of knowledge and commercial capabilities’. The firm assisted S Robinson & Sons on a sale, and provided advice to directors on personal guarantees and purchases of business and assets following administration.

Ashwin Mody at Spearing Waite LLP is a litigation expert of choice for insolvency practitioners, and in 2010 handled claims of £1m for wrongful trading and recoveries for creditors on liquidations totaling £2m. The team also acted in 12 administrations and liquidations, including that of Ariel plc.

Although qualified insolvency practitioner Peter Cropley retired from Chattertons, Peter Lawson continues to advise practitioners, trustees and directors on procedural matters and claims.

Search News and Articles

Press releases

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to

Legal Developments in the UK

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

Press Releases in the UK

The latest news direct from law firms. If you would like to submit press releases for your firm, send an email request to
© 2012 www.legal500.com