Tapestry Compliance

Tapestry is a multi-award-winning boutique law firm specialising in global executive and employee share schemes and incentives. We offer excellent legal service to clients whilst maintaining our ethos of agile working and value for money. We provide insight-driven global solutions, and leading UK technical expertise.

Whilst always up against large City firms, the strength and quality of our offering means we continue to enjoy substantial growth, both in team size and client roster. Our clients have access to specialist, experienced, lawyers for significantly less; providing all-round better service.

Since 2011, employee ownership has been at the heart of what we do.

Our work

We have built a reputation as a challenger firm, going head-to-head with the biggest firms in London and around the world because we offer unmatched expertise, pragmaticism, creative technology solutions, and a commitment to cost-effectiveness.

We are the year-in, year-out trusted adviser on global incentive arrangements, fostering long-term relationships and repeat instructions on plan implementation, documentation and legal/tax compliance, working alongside our clients annually as their trusted adviser.

We handle complex mandates from prominent clients including Coca-Cola Europe, IAG and Unilever, including advising on the impact of transactions and corporate actions on incentive plans.

We advise many banks, insurers and asset managers including Aviva, HSBC and Morgan Stanley on a range of remuneration and regulatory topics.

Our clients

We are trusted advisors to some of the world's leading companies, providing services to 65% of the current FTSE 100, and as of the date of writing, 50% of the FTSE10! What makes us particularly proud is that our clients stick with us - more than 40% of our clients have been with us for over 5 years, seeing the value we bring and the relationships we build.

Both our UK and international practice have continued to grow, with the number of active clients increasing by 15% in 2024.

Our team

We are the largest team of incentives lawyers in any UK law firm. Our Partner-equivalents (Hannah Needle, Chris Fallon and Suzannah Crookes) lead the team, providing a wealth of industry expertise. We have an impressive senior bench of notable lawyers, all with individual specialisms: Paul Abthorpe, Sally Blanchflower, Sarah Bruce, Matthew Hunter, Emma Parker, Lorna Parkin and Carla Walsham (who re-joined Tapestry in 2024).

Our industry

Tapestry’s senior bench has strong activity and involvement in all the major industry organisations (GEO, ProShare, SPLG, NASPP), holding more senior positions in those organisations than any other UK law firm. They are frequently asked to present at high-profile events. This year, Tapestry was a founding sponsor of, and contributor to, GEO’s pioneering Global Share Plan Rankings Study which is being used to support local advocacy and government lobbying, increasing the profile of employee share schemes and incentives globally.

Value-add initiatives
We host a variety of webinars which regularly attract 100+ attendees, and a roundtable programme offering unrivalled guest access to industry policy-makers, facilitating critical peer-to-peer best practice discussions.

We provide email alerts and updates on our LinkedIn network, reporting on breaking industry news and global updates, summarising the key development and providing a perspective from our Tapestry lawyers.

Global compliance

Our market-leading online database of legal and tax compliance information, OnTap, is a key part of our business. We stand apart from competitor database providers as our lawyers are also providing a majority market share of the related legal advisory work on the relevant topics, meaning our database content is continuously updated to reflect our experience of issues, solutions and market practice.

We have maintained this approach over the last year, and have accelerated the development of a wider range of content to reflect changing workplace practices and an increasingly mobile workforce, including new inputs on unlisted company issues and analysis for non-employees.

To enhance functionality for client subscribers, we have improved the format of our downloadable reports this year, and have simplified the choices made when selecting report content.

Tapestry helps clients develop a sensible approach to global share scheme and incentives compliance using our OnTap database to help manage risk and budgets. We offer:

• Information on 160+ countries
• Different types of reports: feasibility, detailed legal and tax, employee tax notes, payroll guides
• Information on tax beneficial treatment
• 24/7 access at your fingertips

All maintained by our extensive, hand-picked global network and Tapestry’s experienced lawyers.

Training
We provide the UK’s only professional qualification in our industry, the Certificate in Employee Share Plans (accredited by the Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland). As well as teaching the technicalities and providing attendees with a solid knowledge foundation, our unique offering shares market knowledge and best practice. The course is run annually in two parts with an exam after each part. With over 1000 alumni in total and up to 100 participants each year, the course also has supported career development for many in the industry.

“This course is extremely helpful to understand the complex world of UK share plans. The course is well organised and the speakers really bring share plans to life and have shared some helpful best practice guidance on the operation of share plans for students to take away with them to implement into internal processes!”
Hammerson Plc

“Blown away by the exceptional quality of the Tapestry team, delivery of the course and the materials. Well done!”
BP

“I have to say this has hands down been one of the best courses I've attended. The notes are beautifully prepared and very easy to follow. The speakers are highly knowledgeable and the support and encouragement has been excellent! Highly recommend!”
RS Group

“The course offers a great range of topics that affect all aspects of share plans, which makes it a great choice for both those managing and administering share plans within companies but also external administrators too. The content is delivered by experts in their fields, in an engaging and interactive way which helps create a fantastic environment for learning.”
HWC