Leading East Midlands-based commercial law firm, Geldards is further expanding the team of partners at its offices in Derby and Nottingham.

The promotion of three senior associates, along with three other similar appointments at the firm’s Cardiff office, brings Geldards’ total number of partners to 55.

All highly experienced lawyers, the new East Midlands-based partners have built a solid track record with the firm over several years and Chairman, David Williams said: “They have all helped to develop our services in different ways, using their expertise to strengthen our reputation with our clients.

“Their promotion will help to create an even stronger partnership base – an important requirement for the firm’s future growth.”

Derby’s two new partners are Jonathan Butler and Debra Martin.

Jonathan joined the firm in 2001 as an assistant solicitor. He became an associate in 2002 and a senior associate the following year. He works in the firm’s growing dispute resolution department, specialising particularly in the motor vehicle retail sector on behalf of major companies in high value and complex sale and supply of goods, credit and title issues, substantial warranty claims and contract hire disputes.

He also handles cases relating to the misuse of confidential information and trade secrets and offers specialist advice in the field of Public Inquiries for the road haulage sector.

Debra, who has been a senior associate in Derby’s corporate team since 2004, had previously spent 10 years as a senior legal advisor to the FTSE 100 firm 3i plc, Europe’s leading venture capital company.

At Geldards, she specialises in all aspects of corporate finance and banking, including buying and selling businesses, management buy-outs and buy-ins, joint ventures, development capital investments and shareholder agreements. She serves on the board of Growth Investment Network East Midlands, an organisation set up to promote investment in start ups and early stage businesses.

Meanwhile in Nottingham, new partner Penny Dickens has been with Geldards since the firm opened its East Midlands offices in 2000. She specialises in probate and wills practice with a particular emphasis on charitable trusts, inheritance tax planning for owners of small to medium sized businesses and substantial trusts for the disabled.

She serves on the boards of two regional charities and represents Geldards’ East Midlands arm on the Business in the Community Prohelp committee.

Leading Cardiff-based commercial law firm, Geldards is further expanding its team of partners in Wales.

The promotion of three senior associates on Friday (August 1), along with three other similar appointments at the firm’s offices in Derby and Nottingham, brings Geldards’ total number of partners to 55.

All highly experienced lawyers, the new Cardiff partners have built a solid track record with the firm over several years and Chief Executive, Jeff Pearson, said: “They have all helped to develop our services in different ways, using their expertise to strengthen our reputation with our clients.

“Their promotion will help to create an even stronger partnership base – an important requirement for the firm’s future growth.”

The new partners are Emma Burns, Richard Moore and Ioan Owen.

Emma has “moved up through the ranks” since joining Geldards as a trainee in 1997, subsequently qualifying as an employment lawyer. She now specialises in employment law and in freedom of information and data protection.

Richard joined Geldards in 2002 and is a member of the commercial dispute resolution team. He specialises in commercial and intellectual property litigation, dealing with disputes concerning patent, trademark and copyright infringement as well as general contract disputes.

Ioan, who speaks Welsh fluently, joined Geldards as a solicitor 10 years ago and has been a senior associate since 2003. He specialises in commercial property transactions. His expertise includes dealing with commercial and residential developments, landlord and tenant transactions and general agricultural property work.

East Midlands law firm Geldards has acted for Taylor Hogan Healthcare Group in the acquisition of Trent Oak, a 17 bed care home spread over 3 properties. Taylor Hogan is an acquisitive healthcare group which is involved in an aggressive buy and build acquisition programme.

Corporate dealmakers at PKF and Geldards in Nottingham have advised on the acquisition of an insulation business in the South of England.

Mark Plampin, corporate finance partner at accountancy and business advisory firm PKF and Hugh Strickland at law firm Geldards advised the purchaser, Essex Insulation Limited, on the acquisition of Castle Point Insulation Ltd (CPI) for an undisclosed sum.

Essex Insulation Ltd, which is based in Basildon, has been providing insulation solutions to the construction industry for over 40 years.

The insulation market is in a high growth phase, driven by the government’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. The introduction of new building regulations has resulted in a dramatic increase in the amount of insulation required in each new house built.

Another factor driving growth is the dramatic increase in subsidies available to home owners, particularly for cavity wall insulation.

The government has recently announced a new funding scheme called CERT (Carbon Emissions Reduction Target) which is expected to be fully operational in April 2008. This scheme has a proposed target of 3.4 million cavity wall installations in existing homes over the following three years.

Castle Point Insulation (CPI) is a very successful company based out of two branches in Witham and Amersham and has a similar geographical footprint and business ethos to Essex Insulation. CPI is active in the retro-fit (existing dwellings) market place and specialises in blown cavity wall insulation.

Simon Wray, Managing Director at Essex Insulation Ltd said: "We see this as a huge and particularly exciting opportunity for Essex Insulation to get into the retrofit market which is expanding rapidly.

“We will also be able to offer blown cavity wall insulation to our existing new build customers. We intend to run this business in parallel to our existing activities whilst looking for areas where we can enhance both businesses through the remainder of 2007 and beyond."

Mark Plampin, corporate finance partner at PKF, said: "The deal means Essex Insulation can focus on realising its ambition for growth. Acquiring Castle Point will leverage Essex Insulation''s ability to widen its penetration within the supply chain to increase sales and push into the retrofit market.

"Our involvement in this deal also shows that regional corporate finance advisers can compete with City based advisers on transactions," he added.

Hugh Strickland, corporate finance partner at Geldards in Nottingham, said: "We have acted for Essex Insulation for several years and are delighted to have been able to assist the company in a deal which will further strengthen its position in the market.

"The fact that an Essex-based business, backed by Essex funding and purchasing another Essex company has been using advisers in Nottingham clearly demonstrates the calibre of professional expertise available here in the East Midlands," he added.

Company Poised for Aggressive Growth in Rapidly Expanding Composites Industry Corporate Finance experts from two Nottingham-based law firms have helped steer through a private equity-led deal to acquire Amber Composites and Technical Resin Bonders, leading manufacturers and suppliers of composite materials and structures.

The companies have been purchased by a consortium of international investors focused on leveraging technology to increase efficiencies in the transportation and energy industries.

The transaction, which involved legal teams from both Geldards and Browne Jacobson, will provide the companies with a strong foundation for growth and expansion.

Established in 1989 by Gavin Clarke and Stuart Crosskill, the group of companies has become an industry leader based on its ability to provide high quality materials and components on a just-in-time basis. Both Mr. Clarke and Mr. Crosskill will remain as shareholders and advisors to the business, reflecting their confidence in the new investor group and the opportunity going forward. “We are delighted to be partnering with a well-funded team that will help expand our business scope.”

The private equity consortium, led by U.S. entrepreneur Jonathan McQueen, will be seeking to further expand technical and production capabilities, and to diversify into new and emerging markets. Mr. McQueen will be taking the helm as CEO. Commenting on the opportunity, Mr. McQueen said “We chose these companies because of their proven product and technology expertise as well as their strong management teams. The use of composite materials is expanding rapidly and we are well-positioned to capitalize on this growth.”

Composites are among the fastest growing segments of raw material used in the transportation and building materials industries. Composites are increasingly replacing traditional metals due to their lightweight and high-strength characteristics. When used in automobiles and aircraft, composites can significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions while providing comparable or superior structural integrity. Other industries that have rapidly adopted composites include construction building materials, wind energy and marine.

The transaction was led on behalf of the vendors by Matthew Proudlove, Corporate Finance Director at Cooper Parry, who commented: “Gavin and Stuart have established two exciting businesses with committed management teams. Jonathan McQueen, with his experience, enthusiasm and international contact base, is the perfect succession to continue the growth trend.”

Legal advice was provided to the vendors by Peter Hands and Richard Cox of Browne Jacobson. The transaction was led on behalf of the buyers / investors by Hugh Strickland, corporate finance partner with Geldards LLP.

Hugh Strickland added: “We were delighted to be involved in what is an important deal for the two companies. The transaction undoubtedly opens up significant opportunities for the future growth of the businesses which clearly have tremendous potential. The investors, led by Mr McQueen, bring with them a strong track record of success in the sector which will ensure this potential is realised.”

Richard Cox commented: “We are delighted to act for Gavin and Stuart on the sale of their company having worked with them for a number of years. Amber composites is a recognised industry leader in the field of composite materials and structures and we wish the new owners every success in the future.

RBS, through its Structured Debt Solutions team led by Associate Director, Liz Fuge, provided debt and working capital facilities to support the transaction.

When employees go out of the door, employers need to ensure their trade secrets aren’t going with them a leading East Midlands lawyer has claimed.

Mike Butler, partner and employment specialist with commercial law firm Geldards, says businesses should not rely solely on common law to protect them when employees leave.

“It’s essential that employers wanting to protect confidential and commercially sensitive information should cover themselves under the contracts of employment they give to their staff.”

Speaking after several recent court cases which have highlighted the steps employers can take to safeguard their business interests, he added: “In an increasingly competitive world it’s important to take this issue seriously.

“Companies need to make sure staff don’t use information for their own advantage or the benefit of a competitor and that they exercise their right to restrict employees from competing with them.”

A potentially problematic area, which is often overlooked, is the promotion of employees to senior posts. Mike, who is based at the firm’s Nottingham office said: “This might well give access to confidential information in the form of pricing policies, customer lists and so on but employers fail to think ahead when they are promoting people and don''''t consider imposing appropriate restrictions upon them.

“This means that when the employees leave they are not prevented from using this information.

“It’s important to make sure employment contracts restrict staff in a way that is reasonable but which also protects the company’s legitimate business interests.”

Bosses who are tempted to ignore grievances raised by their employees do so at their peril, a leading East Midlands lawyer has warned.

Mike Butler, a partner with leading, Nottingham and Derby-based commercial law firm Geldards, believes some employers might be “lulled into a false sense of security” because the current disciplinary, dismissal and grievance laws are expected to be abolished within the next couple of years.

The Government has indicated that changes are being considered following criticism that the system has triggered complex legal issues and done nothing to reduce the number of tribunal claims.

Measures being considered to replace these procedures include the provision of clear guidelines on good practice for resolving disputes and the earlier use of conciliation and informal resolution.

“In the meantime, employers need to be very, very careful. They should not be lulled into a false sense of security, although I think there will be a tendency for that to happen,” said Mike who is also a part-time Employment Judge.

“The most important thing at the moment is for employers to remember that any complaint in writing by an employee is likely to be interpreted as a grievance. They must, without any shadow of a doubt, take this seriously and follow the current statutory procedures by dealing with the grievance promptly and fairly.”

Failure to follow these procedures could result in employers finding themselves vulnerable. He pointed out: “Decisions from The Employment Appeal Tribunal continue to evolve and interpret the statutory procedures – and we have found they have been interpreted remarkably leniently as far as employees are concerned.”

Top commercial law firm Geldards had announced a series of changes to its management structure to help steer the firm through its next phase of growth.

A new management post of Chief Executive has been created which will be filled by Corporate Finance Partner, Jeff Pearson who will lead an executive team consisting of two other partners, Mike Butler and Mike Jeffs, together with the firm’s professional Heads of Finance, Employment, IT and Human Resources.

David Williams, previously East Midlands Senior Partner, has taken on the non executive role of Chairman with fellow Partner and Head of Public Law, Huw Williams, who is based in the firm’s Cardiff office, becoming non executive Vice Chairman.

David Williams explained: “Our former management structure needed to be reviewed in order to provide us with an improved system which is more appropriate for a modern and expanding business.

“Over the past decade Geldards has gone from strength to strength to become one of the UK’s leading regionally-based commercial law firms. With offices in Cardiff, Nottingham, Derby and London we believe we are well placed to serve clients throughout the country and we are determined to continue to expand the specialist services we offer.

“Modern commercial law firms frequently need to work very closely with clients, helping them in a strategic capacity. In order to remain amongst the best, we need to employ and recruit the most talented lawyers from around the country and that means having a management style and focus which can help the firm to constantly move forward.

“It is also important that we maintain and develop our ‘one firm’ approach to clients, market information and legal knowledge.”

He added: “Legal firms which stagnate are, quite frankly, on the road to nowhere and we believe our new management team will enable Geldards to continue to boost its reputation for excellence in the years ahead.

“All of the new team have been with the firm for many years. They are well placed to continue to promote our core values of integrity, fairness and a straightforward approach to issues.”

Currently the firm has 53 partners and over 350 other legal and support staff.