Macdonald Henderson > Glasgow, United Kingdom > Firm Profile

Macdonald Henderson
STANDARD BUILDINGS
94 HOPE STREET
GLASGOW
G2 6PH
United Kingdom

Corporate and commercial > Corporate and commercial: Edinburgh and Glasgow Tier 4

The ‘outstanding’ corporate practice at Macdonald Henderson offers considerable breadth and depth of expertise, advising clients across a broad range of areas including management buyouts, domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity, and banking finance issues. The ‘commercially astuteDavid Beveridge co-heads the team, bringing vast experience across all aspects of mergers, investments, acquisitions and disposals. Laura McKnight also leads the offering, having specialist knowledge regarding the employment aspects of corporate transactions.

Practice head(s):

David Beveridge; Laura McKnight

Testimonials

‘The practice offers expertise in most areas of business. In effect, a one stop shop. They are quick to respond and the MD offers a personal touch.’

‘They are quick to respond and provide important information and direction to keep a relatively small company moving forward.’

‘Macdonald Henderson have an excellent team of experienced corporate lawyers.’

‘David Beveridge and Laura McKnight are excellent and provide a fantastic service to their clients.’

‘The Macdonald Henderson team are great at their area of strategic focus: experienced and good quality corporate advice on SME M&A and investment deals.’

‘David Beveridge is a great all rounder with 25 years of experience in the Scottish corporate market behind him. Commercial with good attention to detail, he knows how to get a deal done with no messing around. There are plenty of corporate lawyers at larger firms in Scotland who could take a leaf out of his book.’

‘All services provided by Macdonald Henderson are partner led, which is important in the OMB marketplace. The Partners are well supported by their team, and it is clear that communication within their business is excellent.’

‘David Beveridge and Laura McKnight both display a positive and “can-do” attitude and always strive to find solutions and ways to make things happen.’

Key clients

3 x 1

Aesthetic Doctor

Amedeo Adjusting

Argyle Consulting

Argyll Pharmacies Limited

Arvill Plant & Tool Hire

Boss Door Controls

Branding Boutique

Bruce Coaches

Campbell Thomson (Insurance Services) Limited

Capital Payroll Service

Cuthbertson & Laird Group

Emblation

Gordon Ferguson Accountants

Greenwood Northern

Henderson Stone

Hindsight

HR Consultancy

INEX Works Group

Inspire Scotland

Inspirent

John Dennis & Company

JP Mackie

JWF Process Solutions

Keane Premier Group

KJ Tait

Morrisons Food Services

Mosaic Architecture

N4 Investments

Oilfast

Opulus Financial

Personal Wealth Management

PWC

RB Safety Consultants

Scope Bathrooms

SCW Technologies

SPG Fire & Security

The Big Partnership

The Electric Heating Company

Turnkey Global

Wallace White Accountants

Weee Solutions

Westside Distribution Limited

Wholesale Domestic

Wm Brown & Co

Work highlights

  • Acting for the shareholders of Ping Network Solutions on a £10m disposal to the Luxembourg-based Sword Group, the Euronext-listed IT and digital transformation group.
  • Acting for Opulus Financial, the financial solutions provider headquartered in Glasgow on the raising of acquisition finance £5.5m (term) loan from SME Lending Limited (SME’s first Scottish transaction) and the (aggregate £12m) acquisition of four Scottish accountancy practices).
  • Acting for the shareholders of The Electric Heating Company, one of the foremost suppliers of electric heating and hot water products in the UK in the disposal (enterprise value £8m) of the EHC business to Foresight Group.

Macdonald Henderson is an award-winning boutique challenger to Scotland’s largest commercial law firms, dedicated to serving Scotland’s SME owner-managers, entrepreneurs and family businesses.

Over 35 years since its formation, the firm has boldly asserted itself as one of the top performers of Scotland’s professional advisor community and is known for being energetic, savvy, capable and friendly in its approach.

It is regularly instructed on mergers and acquisitions, investments and management buyouts, both domestically and internationally.

Shortlisting in 2023

One of two corporate law firms shortlisted for “Corporate Team of the Year” at The Herald Law Awards of Scotland 2023 alongside MBM Commercial.

Double shortlisting in 2021

In 2021, Macdonald Henderson was shortlisted in two leading Scottish corporate awards along with major corporate law firms in the sector:

One of three corporate law firms shortlisted for “Legal Advisor of the Year” at the Scottish Business Insider Deals & Dealmakers Awards 2021 alongside Addleshaws Goddard and Burness Paull; and

One of three corporate law firms shortlisted for “Transactions Team of the Year” at The Herald Law Awards of Scotland 2021 alongside Shepherd & Wedderburn and MBM Commercial.

The Times Best Law Firms

In 2021, Macdonald Henderson’s award-winning team was recognised for the first time in The Times Best Law Firms.

The MH team is one of only eight Scottish firms to be featured for its work in mergers and acquisitions, alongside global/UK regional giants and large Scottish heavyweights.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/best-law-firms-2021-9kh6q236r

Corporate: The firm’s corporate team advised on over 45 disclosable deals in the financial year 2022/23 (a doubling of deal activity on the previous year) (including unreported deals), ranking us as one of the most deal active corporate teams in Scotland.

In its guide for 2024, The Legal 500 again ranked the corporate team among the top tier Scottish corporate law firms, commenting:

‘Practical, to-the-point advice without burdening the client with the legal minutiae’.

‘Really strong team that care about their clients, very solution-driven’.

‘They have experience in dealing with small clients, from start-ups or university spin outs through to larger organisations on the SME spectrum’.

‘Key strengths are responsiveness and attention to detail’.

‘Commercial and efficient- a combination of broad experience and strong legal knowledge’.

‘Exceptional’.

Property: Our property team is one of the busiest commercial teams in the market providing a comprehensive range of commercial property services to a national and regional client base drawn from both the private and public sectors.  We provide advice across all areas of commercial property for landlords, occupiers and developers.

Commercial and intellectual property: Recognised as respected advisors in the field of commercial law, we advise in all areas from drafting contracts to protecting intellectual property.

Dispute resolution and corporate recovery: Our team advises on all aspects of commercial dispute resolution and is highly active in delivering insolvency and restructuring advice to both companies and insolvency professionals.

Employment: Our team provides a highly proactive client service and is experienced in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious employment law and employee option schemes and benefits.

Private client: Our private client team advises on all aspects of residential conveyancing, wills and executory work on behalf of our individual clients.

Department Name Email Telephone
Managing director David Beveridge db@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Corporate David Beveridge db@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Commercial Property Ian Anderson ia@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Residential Conveyancing Sarah Sheldon sarah.sheldon@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Private Client Gordon Lennox gordon@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Employment Laura McKnight laura@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Commercial and intellectual property David Beveridge db@macdonaldhenderson.co.uk 0141 248 4957
Photo Name Position Profile
Ian Anderson photo Ian Anderson Specialist in commercial property work (including sale/purchase, commercial leasing and security work).…
David Beveridge photo David Beveridge David trained with McGrigor Donald (now Pinsent Masons) from 1997-1999 and then…
Cameron  Broome photo Cameron Broome Trainee Solicitor. Cameron supports the team in various transactions including M&A, company…
Darya Burton photo Darya Burton Trainee Solicitor
Emily Hencher photo Emily Hencher Emily qualified as a solicitor in our Corporate team in July 2023,…
Gordon Lennox photo Gordon Lennox Gordon is Director of Private Client within the firm.  With many years…
Ryan Macready photo Ryan Macready Ryan has significant experience in purchases, disposals, commercial contracts, financial facilities, and…
Elizabeth McDade photo Elizabeth McDade Conveyancing Paralegal
Peter McEwan photo Peter McEwan Peter is a Senior Solicitor and Notary Public in our Private Client…
Laura McKnight photo Laura McKnight Laura trained with Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace, a large Aberdeen law…
Katherine  Phillips photo Katherine Phillips Katherine joined the Macdonald Henderson Commercial Property team in 2023 as a…
Sarah Sheldon photo Sarah Sheldon Associate Director
Chris Wheeler photo Chris Wheeler Trainee Solicitor. With a keen eye for business, Chris took particular interests…
Number of UK partners : 4
Number of other UK fee-earners : 6

CLIENT: Mr Kenneth Fairbairn, MD
COMPANY/FIRM: JWF Process Solutions Ltd
TESTIMONIAL: “…the advice and support from David Beveridge in particular was invaluable both on a personal and business level in ensuring that my expectations were met in respect of the outcomes required of this deal while David and Laura (McKnight) and the MH team ensured the whole process was kept simple and clear”


CLIENT: Ms Isabelle de La Gorce
COMPANY/FIRM: PwC
TESTIMONIAL: “Well done and thanks for great teamwork and cooperation”.


CLIENT: Mr Donald Anderson, Owner
COMPANY/FIRM: Anderson Engineering
TESTIMONIAL: “Laura McKnight and Emily Hencher worked closely with Anderson Engineering to understand the complexities of the business and ensure all aspects of the transaction were covered comfortably”


CLIENT: Mr Arthur Shevill, Founder
COMPANY/FIRM: Arvill
TESTIMONIAL: “We are delighted with the outcome which has been reflective of the hard-work and advice from Laura McKnight and the team at Macdonald Henderson. It has been a pleasure working with Macdonald Henderson as they steered us through this transaction”.


CLIENT: Mr Brian Toward, CEO
COMPANY/FIRM: Wholesale Domestic Bathrooms
TESTIMONIAL: “Macdonald Henderson helped us demystify the entire process around our family business succession. As you can imagine this is not an everyday event for us, but is for them and they took the time to not only officially support all elements of the transaction, but also assist in explaining why each step was required to protect all parties involved”.


CLIENT: Mr Euan Bottomley, Director
COMPANY/FIRM: Campbell Thomson
TESTIMONIAL: “We are delighted with the outcome which has been reflective of all the hard-work, excellent counsel, and advice from David Beveridge and all the team at Macdonald Henderson. It has been a pleasure working with MH as they steered us through the difficult process in a calm and confident manner”.


CLIENT: Mr Matthew Garstang, CEO
COMPANY/FIRM: Opulus Financial
TESTIMONIAL: “Macdonald Henderson have supported Opulus Financial from the start, providing expert legal advice and transactional support. Their multi-disciplinary team, led by David and Ryan, worked with us throughout this complex transaction and were invaluable throughout”.


CLIENT: Mr Gary Beale, CEO
COMPANY/FIRM: Emblation
TESTIMONIAL: “Macdonald Henderson played an integral role throughout this transaction, and we benefited greatly from the experience and guidance of David Beveridge, Laura McKnight and their team”.


CLIENT: The Ping Team
COMPANY/FIRM: Ping Network Solutions Limited
TESTIMONIAL: “The support we’ve had from Macdonald Henderson and Laura McKnight throughout this has been second to none. Laura has guided us through the process from start to finish to ensure we correctly represent the business and conducted this in the same professional manner we’ve undertaken throughout the course of running the business. Laura was always on hand before, during and after the due diligence process to ensure our interests were correctly represented, to explain any complex components and ultimately keep us motoring along efficiently to the successful completion of the deal. It has been a great help to have someone as experienced in our corner, as it’s not a transaction process we’d done before so the level of professional expertise, care and attention to detail applied to our engagement gave everyone the comfort that we were in good hands and making the best decisions”


CLIENT: Mr Fergus Hardie, Chairman
COMPANY/FIRM: Hardie Polymers
TESTIMONIAL: “Macdonald Henderson were outstanding from start to finish. David Beveridge and Laura McKnight guided us through the entire process with determined resolve and complete clarity. Offering re-assurance when required, they were a genuine delight to work with. Not once was I in any doubt that I had the best possible advisors in my corner”.


CLIENT: Mr Tony Wood, Managing Director
COMPANY/FIRM: Turnkey Holdings (Scotland) Limited
TESTIMONIAL: “It was good to have Macdonald Henderson as part of our deal team. We have worked with them for a number of years, and so with their knowledge and understanding of the business were able to drive a quick and efficient legal process. David (Beveridge) and Laura (McKnight) of MH facilitated the delivery of the deal on schedule, and were a pleasure to work with. We are grateful for their support and advice throughout”.


CLIENT: Mr Chris Thomas, CEO
COMPANY/FIRM: Incovo Limited
TESTIMONIAL: “Following the news of our successful acquisition of RGB Solutions, we would like to thank Macdonald Henderson for their valuable assistance throughout the process. We would particularly like to extend our thanks to David Beveridge for his help and advice regarding the transaction”.


CLIENT: Mr Andrew Richmond, Owner and Director
COMPANY/FIRM: Amedeo Adjusting Limited
TESTIMONIAL: “The expertise, attention to detail and foresight provided by the Macdonald Henderson team during the acquisition process secured an exceptional result for Amedeo Adjusting, and the team going forward. Thanks to all involved”


CLIENT: Mr Gary Morrison, Managing Director
COMPANY/FIRM: Morrisons Foodservice
TESTIMONIAL: “I wish to offer my personal thanks to you for the extremely professional service and guidance which was given. Hilary (Malone) and Ian (Anderson) provided great support to the family throughout the process, and are a credit to Macdonald Henderson. May I take this opportunity to wish you all continued success for the future. Many thanks!”.


CLIENT: Ms Suzie and Mr Donald Paton, co-founders
COMPANY/FIRM: Capital Payroll Services
TESTIMONIAL: “We would like to pass on our heartfelt thanks to Laura and the MH Team for their sterling work in completing the sale of our company. Their expertise and professionalism safely navigated the sale to completion and achieved a deal we were delighted with. Laura and the Team kept us informed at all stages of the transaction, fully explaining corporate and legal terms in language we could understand. We would have no hesitation in recommending MH for corporate transactions.”