The Norwich office of Birketts LLP is home to an ‘approachable, knowledgeable and accessible’ group with broad-ranging expertise and a deep bench of experienced partners. Ed Savory has taken over as head of the corporate team, while also acting as head of the food and beverages sector group. The ‘technically fantastic’ Adrian Possener co-leads the energy and infrastructure sector group, drawing on his vast experience in public company work, IPOs and bond issues. Specialist corporate finance partner Greg Allan leads the healthcare sector team, leveraging his long experience in advising social care, medical and specialists care providers. Clients praise Paul Palik‘s ‘calm and collected manner, teamed with his incredible knowledge and extensive experience’, while the ‘astute, diligent, talented, and professional’ Jack Shreeve is one to watch.
Corporate and commercial: Norwich in East Anglia
Birketts LLP
Praxisleiter:
Ed Savory; Adrian Possener
Weitere Kernanwälte:
Greg Allan; Paul Palik; Jack Shreeve
Referenzen
‘The team listens and takes on board the objectives trying to be facilitated, finding the right structure to best ‚fit‘ the circumstance. They work closely with other professionals in order to achieve this. By which I mean the client is put first.’
‘Birketts really understands our business, the niche industry we operate in. One of the biggest benefits of working together for many years means they are fully aware of our company’s journey, historic discussions, decisions we have made and approaches taken, meaning they can quickly pick up any matter swiftly and with full context rather than us having to start over again and explaining things each time. The fact we have such a long relationship is testament to how easy they are to work with and how well they perform their services.‘
‚I am completely confident in their knowledge and expertise, and know they are fully appraised of what is going on in their respective areas of specialism. It’s very easy to overlook the work that goes in to becoming an expert, but also then consistently maintaining it – so I have huge admiration for the work they do.‘
Kernmandanten
Holkham Holiday Parks Limited
Applied Satellite Group Limited
24hr Aquaflow Services Limited
Mayday Office Equipment Services Limited
Contact Electrical Holdings Limited
RPC Holdings Limited
Grainger Motor Group Ltd
Highlight-Mandate
- Advised Holkham Holiday Parks Limited on the acquisition of a caravan park business, comprising the share acquisition of three companies and asset acquisition of two companies.
- Advised the shareholders of 24hr Aquaflow Services Limited on sale of the company to React SC Holdings Limited.
- Advised on the sale of Thunderbrook Equestrian Limited to the ForFarmers Group.
Mills & Reeve LLP
The ‘very accessible and responsive’ practice at Mills & Reeve LLP in Norwich is part of a firm-wide group that increasingly handles M&A transactions with an international element; the firm also remains highly active in the largest regional deals. It frequently advises on IPOs, as well as acting for large private equity investors in key sectors such as the health space, and the firm’s health and care sector group is sought after by PE houses, investors, corporates, providers, and operators regionally, nationally and internationally. Greg Gibson, who is national head of the government sector group, and health sector specialist Natalie Wade lead the practice. The ‘helpful and accessible’ Craig Hodgson takes the lead on food and agribusiness matters, while James Hunter frequently acts for owners and acquirers of mid-market businesses, and handles private equity, healthcare and life sciences transactions as well as mainstream corporate M&A.
Praxisleiter:
Greg Gibson; Natalie Wade
Weitere Kernanwälte:
Craig Hodgson; James Hunter; Christina O’Brien; Kim Lindsay-Smith
Referenzen
‘Greg Gibson is an excellent client relationship partner. He and others in the M&R team have worked with us for a number of years so have excellent institutional knowledge and understanding of our corporate policies and approach.’
‘Very accessible and responsive.’
‘Craig Hodgson. Helpful and accessible. Distinguishes between what has to be fought for and what does not. ’
Kernmandanten
Shareholders of Barnes (Aldbourne) Limited
Shareholders of Coatham Tyre Centre Limited
Shareholders of Coach1 Limited
Shareholders of The Ready Group Limited
Shareholders of Johnsons (Henely) Limited
Shareholders of Swans Travel Limited
Shareholders of HCA (Manchester) Limited
Shareholders of Owens Newco A Limited. (Project Roman Shareholders)
T & L Sugars Limited
Fengrain Limited
GreenSquareAccord
HD Clinical Limited
Department for Work & Pensions
Supply Chain Coordination Limited
The British Council
The National Archives
Highlight-Mandate
- Advised on a significant PE deal which was the merger of seven regional coach operators in order to form a new, national group called The Coach Travel Group backed by PE Fund H2.
- Acted for Archimed SAS and various individual shareholders on the sale of the Deallus group.
- Supporting the Department for Work and Pensions on the implementation and operational delivery of its Functional Assessment Services Contracts.
Ashtons Legal
Ashtons Legal has a wide network of offices in the region, and its Norwich office is central to its corporate and commercial offering, which is led from Ipswich by Geoff Hazlewood. It houses much of the firm’s nationally recognised franchising group, led by specialists Damian Humphrey and John Chambers. Alongside his management duties, firm CEO James Tarling continues to be involved in transactional work, and Mark Watson frequently assists many local and national businesses on transactional matters, as well as advising financial institutions on the corporate aspects of their lending. David Sloman acts for high-growth companies in the technology sector.
Praxisleiter:
Geoff Hazlewood
Weitere Kernanwälte:
James Tarling; John Chambers; Damian Humphrey; David Sloman; Mark Watson
Referenzen
‘A really strong all-round commercial practice. I do a lot of work with early-stage companies so their experience in setting the right foundations for growth is really useful.’
‘We work mostly with David Sloman, who is excellent. Has all the measured calm and thoughtfulness you need in your law partner – but he can move at pace and help us see the wood for the trees in the fast-moving world of start-ups we operate in.’
‘They are responsive, supportive and have a diverse range of expertise.‘
Kernmandanten
Stow Healthcare Group
Medical Management Systems
TaxAssist Group
Signs Express
Titan Motorsport & Automotive Engineering
Camgrain
xDNA Group Limited
Flip Out
ARC (Norwich) Limited
Ecoglass Limited
Quadrant Management
Euston Ventures Limited
Lofty Inc
Tech Educators
Algaris Limited
Gipping Construction
Abbey International Finance Limited
Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment
Bowmonk Limited
Akcela Ventures
Bill Cleyndert & Company
TryHackMe
Hemp Innovations
Natural Building Systems
The Pixl Club
Smartspace Software PLC
Highlight-Mandate
- Advising ARC (Norwich) on the successful transition to management ownership by carrying out a two-stage MBO.
- Advised Cecil Amey Opticians and Hearing Care on the acquisition of the three branches of Penningtons Opticians.
- Advising the shareholders of Majestic Garden Services on the £5m sale to private equity-backed Servtron Limited, including significant roll-over for the shareholders.
Fosters
Fosters provides a broad-ranging service that encompasses everything from complex M&A transactions to day-to-day legal support. The ‘highly commercial’ Jamie Arnall and the ‘incredibly diligent’ Charlotte Darkins are highly experienced in advising clients in the sports industry and are frequently involved in negotiating sponsorship deals. Newly promoted partner and head of corporate Josh Perez-Fosh handles complex and high-value M&A transactions. The firm ‘offers a balance of personalised service and professional expertise’.
Praxisleiter:
Jamie Arnall; Josh Perez-Fosh
Weitere Kernanwälte:
Charlotte Darkins
Referenzen
‚The individual team members were great at communicating with us and always responded quickly to us when necessary. They also always acted in our best interests whilst listening to our views and concerns.‘
‚I highly value having a single contact who can involve other specialist teams as and when required.‘
‚I’ve worked with Jamie Arnall for many years and find him highly commercial. He’s great for having a chat about how to deal with a situation strategically, as well as for sound legal advice. His team are also excellent at supporting us.‘
Kernmandanten
Zatu Limited
Coventry City Football Club
Super League Basketball Limited
Norwich City Football Club Plc
Nottingham Forest Football Club Limited
Motorplus Limited
Furncare Limited
Howes Percival LLP
At Howes Percival LLP, James Stephen leads the corporate, commercial and banking group from Cambridge, and head of corporate Oliver Pritchard is based in Norwich. Richard Turner is a key name in the practice, alongside complex restructuring and multi-step capital reduction demerger specialist Lizzy Page and M&A adviser Helaina Mann, who is ‘highly intelligent and confident in her communication style’.
Praxisleiter:
James Stephen; Oliver Pritchard
Weitere Kernanwälte:
Richard Turner; Lizzy Page; Helaina Mann
Referenzen
‚They are keen to understand how you work so they can tailor their services and advice to the best effect. They will raise related matters to the subject you are seeking advice on to ensure all bases are covered.‘
‚They understand our requirements and will always give advice in a practical and real world/commercial context. This applies to the whole team, particularly Richard Turner.‘
‚Very down-to-earth, pragmatic and efficient. I trust their work and their judgement and they work seamlessly across the team.‘
Kernmandanten
Stuart Group Ltd / Stuart Plant Ltd
Inspiralis
Falcon Cranes
Forbidden Planet
British Marine
BGF
Cadman Capital
Millnet Limited
Don’t Travel Empty Limited
Marett’s Chariots Coach Hire
PFK Ling Limited
Edperitus
Ben Burgess Limited
Hughes Electrical Limited / Washco Limited
Desira plc
British Marine
HSBC
Stratton Motorsport Limited
Southwold Pier
Abacus Hotels
Pretty Technical Limited
Rokker Limited
GSL Dardan
DX Network Services Limited
2BP Limited
Highlight-Mandate
- Advised Horning Pleasurecraft Limited on its acquisition of the business and assets of Broom Boats.
- Advised BGF Investments LP & BGF UK Enterprise Fund 3 LP (private equity house) on its £6m investment in Signify Research Limited.
Clapham & Collinge Solicitors
Clapham & Collinge Solicitors has continued to grow its corporate client base across Norfolk, and lead partner Paul Kenrick has successfully added local businesses to the firm's client roster. His expertise spans a wide range of commercial law topics, including commercial contracts, partnership agreements, AI regulation, and business sales.
Praxisleiter:
Paul Kenrick
Kernmandanten
BSP Engineering Limited
Pastry Cutters Limited
Watsons Property Group Ltd
Spreyer Brothers Leisure Limited
Simon Stern Holidays Limited
MW Sweeper Hire Limited
KS Clubs Limited
Isadores
Isadores has carved out a niche advising the sellers of family-owned and owner-managed businesses in the East of England. Nathan Muskett is the lead partner locally, while Stephen Ryde-Weller also spends time in the firm's Portsmouth office. Clients single out Molly Byrne‘s ‘approachable nature, friendly disposition, and exceptional ability to clearly explain complex matters in plain English’. Emma Keen also plays a key role in complex business sales.
Praxisleiter:
Nathan Muskett; Stephen Ryde-Weller
Weitere Kernanwälte:
Molly Byrne; Emma Keen
Referenzen
‘Isadores consistently delivers exceptional service that distinctly sets them apart in the legal sector. Their approach is highly efficient, organised, and thorough, ensuring that clients remain fully informed and supported throughout every stage—from the initial consultation right through to conclusion. Their professionalism, combined with a friendly, approachable manner, fosters trust and creates a reassuring, positive client experience.‘
‚Clients benefit from the firm’s proactive communication style, regular updates, and accessibility, facilitating smooth and transparent case progression. This dedicated approach not only helps in achieving optimal outcomes but also builds enduring relationships founded on reliability and mutual respect. The team’s commitment to understanding each client’s unique needs and circumstances further underscores their ability to deliver tailored and effective legal solutions.’
‘Molly Byrne, our main contact at the firm, has consistently provided outstanding service over several years to both our organisation and the clients we recommend. Molly’s approachable nature, friendly disposition, and exceptional ability to clearly explain complex matters in plain English greatly enhance the client experience. Her empathetic and reassuring approach ensures that clients feel at ease, fully informed, and well supported throughout their transactions. Molly’s professionalism and genuine care leave a lasting positive impression, making her an invaluable asset to both Isadores and the clients she supports.’
Kernmandanten
P1 Capital
Aura Futures Limited
Victorious Festivals
Transmit Containers
Ovamill Group
N-Ergise
Petlife Internation Limited
Former family and non-family shareholders of Simpsons Garage (Gt. Yarmouth) Ltd
Former family shareholders of Pips Skips Limited
Minors & Brady Estate Agents
Former shareholders of Simonds of Botesdale Limited
Former shareholders Aquazone Group
Stephenson Smart Accountants
Highlight-Mandate
- Advised the owners of Aquazone Group Limited on a 75% investment into the company by Ross-shire Engineering Limited.
- Advised on the sale of Pips Skips Limited to Sun Skips Ltd.
- Advised on the sale of Simpsons Motorhomes/Skoda Gt Yarmouth to Desira plc.