Acuity Law maintains a sizeable presence in the capital, with the strength-in-depth to handle a significant range and volume of corporate instructions. Steve Berry is often at the forefront of the most challenging mandates handled by the team, including in relation to strategic M&A as well as work in the venture capital space. The healthcare sector remains a fertile source of work, with both Beverley Jones and Jon Lawley handling a vast amount of transactions, including for leading UK care home operators and social care providers on their growth strategies. The vastly experienced Paul Lowe excels in handling cross-border M&A matters, while the firm’s strong commercial offering is spearheaded by Declan Goodwin, who excels in advising on strategic IT-based projects and provides ‘excellent IP and contract support’. Christian Farrow and Tom Saunderson departed in 2024.

Able to leverage complementary services across the firm’s full-service offering, Blake Morgan LLP provides a holistic service to clients across a wide array of complex Wales and UK based corporate transactions. Corporate head James Williams is adept at handling both transactional work, including M&A matters and JV structuring, as well as advising on corporate governance/compliance to both public and private sector clients. Richard Jones also takes the lead on many important transactions and has developed a particular skill in relation to private equity and venture capital-related mandates. Fund-related work also forms a key part of James Vaughan‘s broad offering that also includes work for high-net-worth individuals, owner-managed business and larger corporates. Penri Desscan heads up the commercial practice and has an emphasis on long term, complex, high-value services and supplies contracts.

Spearheaded on the corporate front by the ‘responsive and very knowledgeable’ Paul Pugh, Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP is best-known for its impressive track record handling big-ticket M&A transactions within the highly regulated financial services sector, including on deals relating to fintech, payments, banking and insurance. For fintech-related deals in particular, the team also frequently calls upon the expertise of commercial law practitioners at the firm, including team head Matthew Gough and Eve England. Both Gough and England also add vital input on transactions involving consumer-facing businesses, with both having niche consumer law expertise. On the corporate front, Shelley Evans has particular experience in insurance broking M&A.

Geldards LLP is adept at handling a myriad corporate work for local, UK, and international entities from a wide range of sectors. A significant volume of this work is acting on the buy and sell-side of M&A transactions for both corporates and fund clients. Alex Butler is key to the firm’s private equity and venture capital-backed work. Vastly experienced team head Andrew Morris has excellent connections with local businesses, and alongside Butler continues to provide corporate assistance to Development Bank of Wales on its fund structuring as well as pursuant ongoing corporate governance. Christopher Williams heads up the commercial law offering and is particularly skilled at advising public sector clients on commercial contracts, including on outsourcing.

The ‘highly experienced’ team at Hugh James has excellent traction in the Welsh market among corporates from a range of industry sectors. ‘Technical but commercial’ corporate team head Gerallt Jones is often at the forefront of the most consequential mandates handled by the practice. As well as regularly handling corporate-led M&A, including from a cross-border perspective, Greg Williams also has significant exposure to private equity-backed mandates, most notably within the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Aled Walters, who heads up the commercial team, is best-known for his deep knowledge of the highly regulated media and gaming sectors. Other key team members include Mark Loosemore, who is adept at advising on commercial and contractual issues in the sports and media sectors, and Liz Fletcher, whose 2025 return to the firm from Bevan Brittan LLP enhances its capability on technology and commercial contracts and complex outsourcing projects.

Well-connected within the local business ecosystem, the ‘knowledgeable and friendly’ team at Berry Smith is best known for its corporate and commercial work for SMEs and owner-managed businesses. Within this context, team head Andrew Bound has been very active of late advising shareholders on the establishment of Employee Ownership Trusts and the subsequent sale of their shares to this corporate vehicle. ‘Pragmatic and sensible in her approach’, Emma Borrington excels in advising SMEs, both on their M&A transactions and ongoing corporate governance issues. Other key contacts include Paul Evans for healthcare-related M&A, and recently promoted partner Dan Dowen for his work across a range of commercial contract matters.

Established in July 2024, Browne Jacobson‘s Cardiff-based corporate team has quickly become a force in the market. The team, including ‘outstanding’ team head Christian Farrow, is able to leverage its strong corporate market connections as well as to draw from the firm’s UK-wide coverage and strengths in key industry sectors including healthcare and tech. Farrow, alongside Phillip Pugh and Tom Saunderson joined the group in 2024 from Acuity Law. Pugh is particularly skilled at advising education clients on transactional work, and Saunderson is very adept at advising early stage and high-growth corporates scale up through venture capital funding.

With lawyers who are conversant across both transactional and commercial contract matters, the ‘flexible and responsive’ team at Darwin Gray LLP remains a very popular choice among SMEs based in South Wales and the South West of England. The ‘calm and assured’ Stephen Thompson leads from the front and exemplifies the firm’s holistic approach, as comfortable at handling MBO transactions and group restructurings, as working on franchising law matters. Siobhan Williams handles a considerable number of EOT-related transactions, as well as being key to the firm’s growing presence among clients in the tech/start-up space.

Since opening its office in Cardiff at the beginning of 2020, Harrison Clark Rickerbys has continued to make strides in the market through some good strategic lateral hires. Under the guidance of former Geldards LLP lawyer Martyn Davies, who is ‘technically very able’, the ‘responsive and commercially-focused’ team has picked up a significant volume of transactional work, including for tech-related investee companies seeking funding from venture capital investors. Theresa Grech is also a key contact for corporate transactional work and has recently handled a number of renewables-related M&A deals. The commercial team, which is headed by blockchain/NFT expert Nicola McNeely, also continues to thrive, with many clients utilising the firm’s HCR Flex retainer product to supplement or as an alternative to their own in-house capacity. David Beynon departed in March 2024 for an in-house role.

Co-headed by the ‘personable and professional’ Betsan Powell and Michael Williams, from Cardiff and Swansea respectively, JCP Solicitors has excellent traction among regional SMEs and owner-managed businesses, which are appreciative of its ability to provide a comprehensive service across the gamut of their corporate and commercial needs. Natalie Jones has been pivotal to much of the significant transactional work since joining in January 2024 from Acuity Law, and adds M&A prowess in key sector areas including energy. The ‘exceptional’ Rhianydd Llewellyn-Thomas, who was promoted to partner in October 2024, now heads up the firm’s specialist healthcare group and is particularly adept at buying and selling dental practices.

Led from Cardiff by ‘exceptional’ transactional lawyer Geraint Tilsley, and regularly aided by practitioners across the firm’s UK-wide network of offices, Lewis Silkin punches above its weight relative to its size for M&A work. Although it does handle some local matters, a substantial proportion of the team’s workload has cross-border elements, driven in large part by Tilsley’s strong ties with US/international funds and corporates.

With roots in Swansea, and a developing Carmarthen office, Morgan LaRoche is well-positioned to act directly for local corporates across a diverse range of their corporate and commercial needs. William Barletta, who oversees the business services offering from the firm’s Swansea headquarters, is adept at handling both transactional and commercial contracts work, including for sports clients. Christopher Evans has been pivotal to the firm’s success expanding westwards, and excels at handling M&A work across multiple sectors, including healthcare and construction. Aberystwyth-based practitioner Catherine Byers is also a key member of the team.

Dolmans effectively capitalises on its strong public sector relationships, advising on commercial contracts and handling ad-hoc corporate matters for public entities. Justin Harris, who leads the team, is highly skilled in representing these clients and demonstrates strong expertise in contract drafting and corporate governance, particularly for sporting organisations and bodies.

Headed by Mike Jenkins, Newport-based firm Harding Evans LLP has excellent traction among owner-managed and SME businesses in South East Wales and regularly acts for them on corporate and commercial transactions. James Young handles much of the transactional work, with both Young and Jenkins also very skilled at handling commercial property matters for business clients.

Newport-based firm RDP Law has excellent connections among south Wales-based SMEs and owner-managed businesses from a range of sectors, including food manufacturing and freight logistics, which it advises across a range of commercial contracts and transactional work. Team head Henry Clarke is at the forefront of this work, as well as also regularly working for high-net-worth-individuals, including those in the farming sector, on their business interests.

Blending ‘City-grade experience with the responsiveness and flexibility of a boutique’, Thompson Darwin Limited can provide ‘clear and no-nonsense advice’ to clients across a wide range of corporate and commercial matters. Team head Bethan Darwin is appreciated for her ability to ‘navigate the complexities of multi-stakeholder deals with clarity and pragmatism’, including in the context of early stage venture capital mandates.