Corporate & commercial lawyers for businesses that build.

Structure and formation

The way a business is set up determines who controls it, how profits are shared and what happens when circumstances change. We advise founders and investors on the choice of structure, prepare constitutional documents and put in place shareholder agreements that address the questions most businesses would rather not think about at the outset: deadlock, exit, the departure of a founder and the admission of new capital.

Well-drafted foundations are inexpensive compared with the cost of resolving a dispute between co-owners who never agreed the rules.

Governance and the board

Directors carry legal duties that extend beyond running the business day to day. We advise boards on their responsibilities, on decision-making procedures and on the records that demonstrate decisions were properly taken. We assist with changes in share capital, the appointment and removal of directors, and the routine corporate housekeeping that becomes critical the moment a company is sold, financed or challenged.

Acquisitions, sales and investment

Buying or selling a business, or bringing in an investor, is often the most significant transaction an owner will undertake. We act on share and asset acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures and investment rounds. Our work covers structuring, due diligence, negotiation of the principal agreements, and the completion mechanics that turn a signed deal into a finished one.

Throughout, we keep the commercial objective in view: legal points are pressed where they protect real value and conceded where they do not.

Commercial agreements

A business runs on its contracts. We draft and negotiate supply, distribution, agency, services, outsourcing, licensing and confidentiality agreements, as well as standard terms of business. Our approach is to set out the deal in language both parties can understand, allocate risk deliberately, and include practical mechanisms for resolving disagreements before they become disputes.

Working alongside your advisers

Corporate work rarely happens in isolation. Accountants, tax advisers, bankers and investors each have a view on how a transaction or restructuring should be shaped. We work constructively with your other advisers, keep the legal workstream aligned with the financial and tax analysis, and make sure that nothing falls between the gaps. Where specialist input is needed from another discipline, we identify it early so that it does not delay the timetable.

For owner-managed businesses, we are often the adviser who holds the overall picture: the company's constitution, its key contracts, its shareholder arrangements and the decisions the board has taken over the years.

A standing adviser

Many clients retain us as an outside general counsel: the first call when a new contract arrives, a supplier relationship falters or a strategic decision has legal consequences. Knowing your business allows us to respond quickly and in context, and to flag risks before they mature. It also means that when something significant happens, such as an approach from a buyer, a dispute with a key supplier or the arrival of a new investor, we can act from the first day without having to learn the business from scratch.

Questions clients ask