Edward Craft > Wedlake Bell LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile
Wedlake Bell LLP Offices

71 QUEEN VICTORIA STREET
LONDON
EC4V 4AY
England
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Edward Craft

Work Department
Corporate.
Position
Edward leads on the most complex and innovative transactions delivered at Wedlake Bell and provides technical leadership to both the team and the profession.
Edward has sat on the Company Law Committee of The Law Society since 2013 and served as chair 2019-2022. In that role, Edward was responsible for the guidance to solicitors in conducting verification under the new register of overseas entities. The 2021 practice note and Q&A on electronic signatures in the context of COVID has proven a very valuable resource to practitioners.
Edward has a long-established practice focussed on governance and transparency, including PSC, ROE and TRS.
Edward has twice been the author of the Corporate Governance Code issued by The Quoted Companies Alliance, which is used by the vast majority of companies on AIM.
Career
Edward joined Wedlake Bell as a partner in 2010. Before that, he spent twelve years at Nabarro (now CMS), where he qualified as a solicitor in 2000.
Languages
German, French.
Memberships
Corporate Governance Expert Group of the Quoted Companies Alliance (chairman); Consulting Editorial Board Lexis®PSL Corporate; Law Society Company Law Committee.
Edward is a member of the Company Law Committee of The Law Society and sits on the Consulting Editorial Board to Lexis PSL®.
Chair of the Corporate Governance Expert Group of the Quoted Companies Alliance, the independent membership organisation which champions the interests of small and mid-size quoted companies.
Edward is currently sitting on BIS’s expert committee to produce the guidance for companies in preparing their registers of people with significant control under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill (legislation which is in its final stages of progress through parliament).
Education
Reigate Grammar School; Nottingham University (1997 LLB Law 2(1)); Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University (1998 Diploma in Legal Practice merit).
Leisure
Interests are largely dictated by the demands of a young family, but when time permits include running, gardening, escaping to the South Downs.
Lawyer Rankings
London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
(Leading partners)With sector expertise in the technology, financial services, and insurance spaces, as well as in the hospitality and leisure, real estate, and logistics industries, the corporate department at Wedlake Bell LLP is capable of assisting a variety of clients on a range of corporate transactions including M&A, restructurings, and fundraisings. The group is adept in multijurisdictional transactions, and benefits from a multidisciplinary approach, working in tandem with the firm’s tax, finance, IP, and commercial teams, among others. Leading the practice is Adam Lynch, who has a breadth of experience leading on domestic and cross-border M&A deals and corporate finance, including venture capital and private equity transactions. Lynch is frequently instructed by clients from the corporate real estate, financial services, and technology sectors. Edward Craft is noted for his aptitude in M&A, fundraising, and reorganisations, while Nigel Taylor is adept in M&A and private equity transactions in the financial services, technology, and industrials sectors. Other key names in the group include Mark Tasker, who concentrates on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets matters, and corporate finance, and Stephen Callender, whose focus is M&A and UK capital markets.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners London > Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
- M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m London > Corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
Firm Rankings
- Real estate > Commercial property: corporate occupiers
- Corporate and commercial > M&A: Smaller Deals, £10m-£100m
- Private client > Personal tax, trusts and probate
- Real estate > Residential property
- Real estate > Commercial property: investment
- Real estate > Construction: non-contentious
- Private client > Contentious trusts and probate
- Real estate > Property litigation
- Real estate > Commercial property: development
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: civil
- Employment > Pensions (non-contentious)
- Employment > Senior executives
- Real estate > Construction: contentious
- Employment > Employers
- Private client > Family
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: trade marks, copyright and design
- Finance > Corporate restructuring & insolvency
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > IT and telecoms