In Touch - June 2008
In this edition of In Touch, we look at events which happened over the past 6 months, covering the move of our Leicester office to new, state-of-the-art premises and the opening of a new office in Birmingham; the internal appointment of 7 new partners; our work with the Midlands Aerospace Alliance; Chambers Leaders in the field rankings; keeping it healthy in Stockport and supporting a company’s expansion in the middle east.
On the move
Freeth Cartwright’s magnificent seven new partners
Answers over the telephone
Rankings delight
Freeth Cartwright keeps it healthy in Stockport
Firm goes east with the support of Freeth Cartwright
In April, our Leicester office moved to a prestigious new address in the city’s developing business quarter.
Managing partner Julian Middleton and the team of almost 50 partners and staff relocated to One Colton Square (pictured above), part of a development that is helping to regenerate the St George’s area of the city.
Julian commented: “It’s great that we have now moved into Colton Square and can begin a new and exciting chapter in the history of Freeth Cartwright in Leicester in premises that reflect the firm’s professional and modern approach.”
Created by international property group Goodman, the scheme is on the site of the former Charles Street police station and is being developed in partnership with Leicester Regeneration Company and East Midlands Development Agency.
And towards the end of last year, we were pleased to announce the opening of a new office at One Victoria Square, in Birmingham’s business district.
Commercial property specialist Richard Beverley, the partner who is leading the Birmingham project for Freeth Cartwright, commented: “Birmingham has changed immensely over the past few years and, in terms of a base for professional services firms, it is now an extremely viable alternative to London. As we already have offices in Manchester, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, and a partnership agreement with a firm in London, it’s the obvious choice for our next office.”
And by April, the office was celebrating after reaching the final in the coveted Best Newcomer category in the prestigious Birmingham Post Deal of the Year Awards.
These awards reflect the achievements of the local deal-making community and Freeth Cartwright was nominated by an independent panel of senior business, professional and financial advisors from the local community. It is pleasing that the award nominations are selected by the local West Midlands business community and so demonstrates to the firm that our entry into the West Midlands market has been endorsed locally.
Freeth Cartwright’s magnificent seven new partners
A record number of senior associates at Freeth Cartwright have been invited to become partners of the firm.
Pictured here, along with head of the unit Nigel Haynes, are 6 of the new partners who are all part of our Nottingham-based real estate team: Mark Gradwell, Matthew Grocock, Atiyya Khaliq, Sophie Philippon-Thomas, Isobel Radford and Gillian Roberts. The 7th new partner is Rena Magdani, a specialist in employment law, based at our Leicester office.
Chairman Colin Flanagan commented: “This is the highest number of internal admissions in any one year and is a reflection of the firm’s commitment to developing its staff. The invitations to join the partnership are based wholly on merit and all seven new partners have shown the required attributes to become partners.
This also shows that there are career opportunities within the firm and the appointments should act as motivation for all other members of staff.”
Freeth Cartwright provides answers over the telephone
Freeth Cartwright has launched a pilot scheme aimed at offering free legal guidance to the aerospace industry in the Midlands.
The firm is a member of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, which was formed in 2003 to represent and support the aerospace industry across both the East and West Midlands.
We have set up a telephone hotline so that members of the MAA can call for advice and legal guidance on issues such as contracts, intellectual property, commercial property and employment.
Members will be entitled to an initial two hours of free support, with guidance being offered by e-mail, over the phone, or via a face-to-face meeting. A special telephone line and e-mail address have been created for initial contacts.
Mike Copestake, senior partner at our Derby office has commented: “In such an innovative and competitive industry, we felt that we should be offering our services to MAA members to help keep the industry running as smoothly as possible. For example, we advise on supply contracts, employment issues, acquisitions and sales. We could help when suppliers are looking to patent new products or enter into joint venture projects.”
Freeth Cartwright currently works with aerospace organisations such as Paul Fabrications and the Manthorpe Group.
Andrew Mair the MAA chief executive commented: “The Alliance was formed with an ethos of co-operation and support. This initiative from Freeth Cartwright is therefore a valuable addition to the range of services that members offer to each other.”
For more information, MAA members should either call 0845 634 1740, or e-mail aerospace@freethcartwright.co.uk.
Freeth Cartwright is celebrating after 20 of its solicitors were named as leaders in their field by a prestigious UK guide to the industry.
Chambers UK ranks firms across the country, and also regionally, and identifies those that are highly regarded in various sectors such as construction and real estate. Overall, Freeth Cartwright has 20 individuals who are leaders in their field and for the first time there is national recognition for the construction team.
Guy Berwick and Chris Holwell are both highly ranked in the Midlands’ Construction category, while Guy is also highlighted in the Best in the UK Construction (supplierled) category too.
Philippa Dempster, head of commercial services at Freeth Cartwright who is herself a leader in her field, commented: “It’s great to be recognised by Chambers and it’s fantastic that the construction team has that well-deserved national recognition.
Clients like our commercial approach in providing answers, rather than just options, and the fact that we know about the issues that affect their business. I think it is this that has led us to become a major player across the Midlands and beyond.”
To find out about our leaders in the field and the categories, follow this link:
http://www.chambersandpartners.com/uk/rankings36.aspx?fid=146&solbar=1
Freeth Cartwright keeps it healthy in Stockport
Healthcare specialists at the firm are celebrating the completion of an innovative deal to fund and build a new generation of primary health centres for the NHS.
The scheme involves using private money to build and operate two new primary care centres in Heald Green and Woodley in Stockport, Greater Manchester over a 25-year period where patients not only see their GPs but can receive a range of treatments without having to go to hospital.
Stephen Pearson (pictured here), head of Freeth Cartwright’s healthcare unit commented: “Rather than being operated by the NHS, these centres are rented to a “community interest company,” a new generation of non-profit making bodies whose directors are appointed by the local medical community and which is owned by local medical practitioners.”
The new buildings, known as “one-stop centres”, will be built by Alfred McAlpine and the sponsoring organisation, Community First Stockport Ltd, and have a capital value of £10m.
Alison Tonge, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance of Stockport Primary Care Trust, said: “These centres are all about improving access for the community to a broad range of healthcare services. We are grateful to Freeth Cartwright for its support throughout the process and for invaluable advice on finding solutions to the complex issues that these have presented.
Firm goes east with the support of Freeth Cartwright
Murray Macnab of the firm’s Derby office has helped an ambitious AiM-listed Burton industrial services company form a Middle Eastern operation and acquire a business operating from Azerbaijan.
Dubai-based Northbridge (Middle East) FZE, based at the Centrum 100 business park, has acquired RDS (Technical) Ltd, a Jersey-registered company which conducts the majority of its activities through a branch office in Baku, Azerbaijan. Its main business is to provide generators and associated equipment by way of hire, sale and service to the oil and gas industry in the Caspian region.
Northbridge CEO Eric Hook commented: “We are grateful to Murray and his team at Freeth Cartwright for providing a steer on legal issues. We are embarking upon an ambitious expansion programme and it’s vital that we have the support of advisors who are commercially aware and committed to guiding us.”
Speak to us today and find out what we can do for your business.
For further information, please contact:
Philippa Dempster
Direct line: 0115 936 9334
Direct fax: 0115 859 9612