Services

We understand the importance of due diligence in any transaction and the complexities surrounding the constitutional documents of investment funds which can vary in their structure and drafting. Our experts provide counsel to clients and a bespoke due diligence service for individual investors, family offices, pension funds and other institutional investors across a range of fund types to including limited partnerships, JPUTS, open and closed ended funds and private equity co-investments.

Our licensing professionals understand the pressures on business developers to maximise their opportunities and secure the most flexible licences to help their business grow. In an increasingly difficult regulatory landscape the right practical and legal advice is essential and can be the difference between being profitable and not. Andrew, Gareth and Robert have many years’ experience in negotiating the difficulties and problems that can and do arise in setting up new ventures and in dealing with problems occurring during operation. They can advise on the best strategy to obtain the necessary licence with appropriate terms and conditions to maximise the lawful business opportunity.

Our team are experienced at all levels of challenge to decisions made by licensing authorities. We can provide guidance and advice in negotiating and discussing with the authority to reach an agreed position where possible. Sometimes that is not possible and then you will want a hard-hitting team to achieve the best result for you when dealing with authorities that are taking an aggressive and uncompromising stance.

In addition to the traditional avenue of appeal to the Magistrates’ Court, our legal team are in the best position to guide you through the complicated judicial review or case stated challenges to authority decisions.

Our team have worked with a number of businesses wishing toexpand their operations into an outside space. We guide them through theapplication process to obtain a Pavement Licence or Street Trading Licence fromthe relevant local authority. These applications are not necessarily alwaysstraightforward with questions of ownership, planning and public conveniencebeing considered, as well as additional considerations and licensing requirementsfor alcohol to be consumed in an outside area.

If your premises are affected or there are proposals to introduce an EMRO or late night levy in your area, we can assist in making representations and in ensuring your voice is heard by the committee concerned.

Our licensing lawyers are experts in the legislation concerning both live and recorded music which is constantly changing and developing. We work with our clients to ensure that they are aware of any altering to the times, levels or events at which music can be played, so that they avoid any pitfalls or unforeseen issues.

Our experts understand that noise issues can be one of the most difficult problems that any licensed premises have to deal with. Noise issues can lead to a review of your licence, a reduction in hours, more onerous conditions and even revocation. In addition, if the local authority finds that a statutory nuisance has occurred, exists, or is likely to recur, it will serve an abatement notice requiring limitations to be placed on the hours the noise is occurring, or that the noise stops altogether. In addition, a growing area of difficulty for operators is in relation to nuisance caused by smell. Where possible we work with clients to prevent or limit issues arising. Where that is not possible or where problems have already occurred we will work with the client to address the problem, negotiate and, when appropriate, stand and fight against any unreasonable requests being made by neighbours or by the local authority officer. We work with clients to ensure that where an abatement notice has been issued steps are put in place to limit reputational or financial damage.

Our team help clients navigate the necessary steps towards obtaining a personal licence with minimum inconvenience and resistance. We can arrange for the necessary training to achieve the required qualification as part of the process of obtaining the personal licence. Where there are difficulties we can provide representation at a committee hearing.

These are never welcome. Our team of licensing lawyers work with clients to ensure that where possible they have the systems in place to help avoid a review or minimise the risk of reviews being brought. The team maintain strong links with the authorities to assist in negotiation and collaboration with the authorities. There are occasions when it is necessary to stand up to an authority if its requests are not proportionate. Our team can provide experienced advice as to when it is appropriate to stand and fight or seek a compromise.

Sometimes things happen which are beyond the control of operators and if that results in a summary review or closure order, that can put the business under severe pressure, both operationally and financially. At such times you need clear advice on the best strategy to secure the reopening of your business at the earliest time or the removal of unnecessary restrictive conditions to enable the premises to operate safely and in a commercially viable way. Our experienced legal team can provide that insight and wisdom to develop an effective strategy for both the short and long term. They can respond to the immense time pressure that the summary review or closure order procedure places on everyone in order to present the best case for you to the licence committee.

Our lawyers are experts in acquiring the licences necessary to run venues offering sexual entertainment. These licences may contain particular conditions imposed by the local authority for all sex establishments in their borough. To avoid potential and challenging issues, we work closely with clients to help them interpret the licences correctly. Local authority policies are becoming more restrictive with more and more obstacles being placed in the way for operators obtaining and operating with such licences. We also work closely with operators to build working relationships with residents and amenity groups before, during and after consultation.

Should an application be refused, challenges can be limited and we are able to advise on the available appeal routes and best strategy for the challenging of the local authority’s decision.

Indoor sports may require a licence, or large events may be held at large sports arenas. This can give rise to complications in relation to safety, crime and disorder, or public nuisance. Our lawyers can guide you through these complicated application processes and can provide detailed, tailored and bespoke advice to ensure that the particular licence required is obtained.

Festivals may take place anywhere. Each location is unique, bringing its own challenges through topography, neighbourhood and available facilities. Our team have experience in dealing with events from 1,000 to 50,000 capacity. It is important that you receive the right advice to assist you in planning for the event, in operating during the event and in reviewing your procedures after the event. Good working relationships are required with the many experts who will be feeding into your operations plan. Good relations need to be maintained not only with the authorities but with the residents close to the locality of the festival. We have a vast array of experience of attending residents meetings and pre-festival applications to alleviate residents’ concerns. Where that is not possible our expert team can, through their experience, work with you shoulder to shoulder in protecting your event.

We understand the difficulties in relation to enforcing planning control. Our team advises early on preventing enforcement, including negotiations, and in appealing against enforcement notices, statutory nuisance and other regulatory controls. We also have vast experience of clients through the appeal process including representation at inquiry or in court. We are also able to help instruct counsel if appropriate.

The onus put upon companies to minimise pollution keeps rising. Our environmental team understands the costly and stressful implications to all parties when targets are not met. We help our clients to understand their liabilities and aid them in preventing and remedying any damage that may have occurred by advising on all areas including environmental liabilities insurance, regulation, compliance and environmental permitting issues.

Always ensuring the best possible outcome for clients, we combine expertise in dispute resolution with other techniques including ADR and mediation. Whether the claim in question relates to environmental nuisance, environmental damage, environmental warranties and indemnities or a wide-range of other potential areas of dispute, our team can be relied upon to provide accurate and effective advice.

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is extremely difficult, particularly when paired with the added responsibility of handling the deceased’s estate. Our solicitors can advise on whether a Grant of Probate or Letter of Administration is required, in order for assets to be collected and distributed – as stated by the deceased or intestacy rules. The team can also offer sophisticated tax advice to executors, next of kin and other beneficiaries, ensuring that costs are minimised and the estate is distributed as efficiently as possible.

There are a number of obstacles involved, in relation to agricultural land and landed estates matters. We can offer our clients tailored advice in terms of agricultural tenancies, as well as in the selling and purchasing of land particularly with large country houses. We are also able to assist with the legal issues that often arise in the running of a farm or landed estate – working closely with our private client and tax colleagues to ensure our clients have all bases covered.

The purchase or disposal of a property is seldom an easy transaction. Our residential team of lawyers works closely with clients to guide them through the plethora of options available to them and advise on a number of different styles of agreements including overage and clawback agreements. Such agreements can be complicated and often involve extensive negotiation and drafting. But our team is dedicated to providing bespoke tailored advice for our clients be they on the seller or the buyer side. 

Our team is well placed to work with clients when they are seeking to make a decision in choosing the form of entity they use. We provide the crucial tax advice surrounding these decisions and regularly advise organisation on whether or not to incorporate, joint venture/partnership structures and on the use of limited liability partnerships. We also advise clients on how best to structure the provisions of the funding for the business.

Our team is well placed to work with clients when they are seeking to make a decision in choosing the form of entity they use. We provide the crucial tax advice surrounding these decisions and regularly advise organisation on whether or not to incorporate, joint venture/partnership structures and on the use of limited liability partnerships. We also advise clients on how best to structure the provisions of the funding for the business.

Working hand in hand with our client and colleagues dealing with the acquisition or disposal of the company, we ensure that the way in which the transaction is implemented reflects the strategic tax advice that we provide and deals with negotiation of tax indemnities and warranties.

We understand that though inevitable, change is always difficult to handle. We regularly guide clients through the tax implications and efficiency when undergoing a business restructuring. Our experience varies from advising on a relatively simple arrangement, such as the introduction of a new holding company / group structure, or on a more elaborate restructuring, sometimes to split an existing group between two groups of shareholders or to split a group up so that different areas of business can operate independently. In each case we provide the relevant tax advice, secure any necessary tax clearances from HMRC and oversee implementation of the restructuring to ensure consistency with the advice.

We regularly advise international businesses looking to expand into the UK or to use the UK as part of its structure, and provide them with advice on the appropriate business structure (e.g. branch or subsidiary), group financing and capitalisation arrangements, profit repatriation issues, avoiding double taxation liabilities and withholding tax problems, employment tax issues and value added tax issues.

Our team understands the tax benefits of enterprise and seed enterprise investment schemes and venture capital trusts. We regularly support numerous start-up and early stage businesses to secure tax efficient funding through these schemes; to secure pre-investment approval of HMRC as to SEIS and EIS status; and to deal with post investment enquiries made by HMRC.

Our extensive expertise in advising on equity incentives and ownership structures for key managers, including advice to management teams in private equity backed transactions, is second to none. We also provide advice on carried interest structures. We navigate our clients through the complex “employment related securities” rules to find the optimum means of providing equity participation for management.

Our experts understand that successful CGT often depends not just on the structuring of an exit but also on managing the tax position when the shares are first acquired. We provide advice when shares are originally acquired with the aim of securing tax efficiency for any future exit. We also advise on the structuring of the exit, to include advice on specific issues involved with payment of deferred consideration and use of loan notes and structuring earn-outs.

Today’s political climate has led HMRC to be under more pressure than ever to be seen to be clamping down on organisations and individuals suspected of improperly handling their tax affairs and those advising them to do so. We understand the process and the importance of having one’s tax affairs in order. We regularly provide our clients with advice in relation to COP9 investigations, and both criminal investigations and prosecutions. We have also successfully advised clients on statutory tax appeals within the Tax Tribunal.

Our experts are regularly called upon to advise clients on the UK tax issues associated with cross border corporate transactions or with commercial projects which have an international dimension and we regularly assist with the identification of potential issues in other countries and project manage the provision of tax advice from advisers in those countries.

Our dedicated tax team understands that commercial arrangements which involve licence fee or royalty payments, particularly when involving a cross border element, give rise to the need to consider issues such as the application of withholding tax rules and the application of value added tax. We advise on such matters, including as to solutions available under applicable Double Tax Treaties and means of minimising potential problems through the drafting of the relevant agreements.

Our experts have acted for a number of P2P platforms to identify issues and successfully find solutions to those issues, sometimes including approaches to HMRC in order to agree a pragmatic approach which respects the tax rules but which also takes account of the practicalities of operating a P2P platform.

We work closely with our real estate experts to identify the specific tax issues that arise where property interests are to be transferred as part of a corporate transaction or where corporate structures are being considered for a property project.

Our extensive expertise in tax disputes places us in a position to adequately assist our broad client base in appealing HMRC decisions from the initial appeal to HMRC, all the way through to the tax tribunal system and, if necessary, to the appellate courts.

Our extensive expertise in tax disputes places us in a position to adequately assist our broad client base in appealing HMRC decisions from the initial appeal to HMRC, all the way through to the tax tribunal system and, if necessary, to the appellate courts.

Today’s political climate has led HMRC to be under more pressure than ever to be seen to be clamping down on organisations and individuals suspected of improperly handling their tax affairs and those advising them to do so. We understand the process and the importance of having one’s tax affairs in order. We regularly provide our clients with advice in relation to COP9 investigations, and both criminal investigations and prosecutions. We have also successfully advised clients on statutory tax appeals within the Tax Tribunal.

Our team of competent tax experts regularly advises clients on disputes relating to all direct and in-direct taxes including corporation tax income tax, national insurance, VAT, Stamp Duty and Customs duties.

We have vast experience in dealing with tax disputes and litigation. We understand that in sometimes a statutory appeal is not possible, in these circumstances we are able to guide our clients through the judicial review process.