Adrian Dye is the head of Sintons' corporate team, who are praised by clients for providing 'solid commercially-focussed pragmatic advice' and 'excellent, customerfriendly service'.
Adrian, can you tell us more about the corporate team at Sintons?
We have four partners in the team: myself, Matt Collen, Emma Pern and Jane Meikle and all of us are very hands-on. Something our clients find is that our senior lawyers are very much involved in client transactions and they have access to experienced people throughout their time with us.
Jane is also our banking and finance specialist which is a really valuable capability for us to have – there aren’t many dedicated banking specialists in the region so having Jane’s expertise is an incredible advantage for our clients.
We have grown significantly over the last few years and in 2024 we welcomed two further newly qualified solicitors, Saffron Sinclair – who qualified through our solicitor apprenticeship programme and was named as Apprentice of the Year in the 2024 Northern Law Awards – and Charles Bell, who completed our graduate trainee programme.
And of course we also have associate level lawyers, experienced solicitors and the support of the firm’s talented business services teams who make sure all our clients receive an outstanding service.
How would you summarise 2024?
It was a very busy year and the team worked extremely hard. The October budget produced a spike in activity but actually the first six months of 2024 were very strong for us. We’ve seen growth in the number of transactions but also in their size and complexity – and this kind of detailed, high value work is something we really enjoy working with our clients on.
We’ve advised clients ranging from large corporates to owner-managed businesses and transactions have spanned all types of sectors. As a firm, we have a long history of specialising in healthcare which remains a strong area for us, but we’ve also advised tech businesses, engineering and construction firms and professional services organisations, amongst many others.
In addition to numerous acquisitions and disposals, we’ve supported a range of clients to transition to employee ownership trusts (EOTs), as well as advising on management buy-outs and restructures.
What are some of the highlight deals you’ve completed this year?
One of the bigger transactions this year has been the disposal of three northern accountancy offices, which saw the Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds offices of Haines Watts became part of leading wealth management and professional services group, Evelyn Partners. It’s a deal which resulted in two incredibly well-known firms coming together and was a significant transaction for the region. The deal was led by Emma Pern who worked closely with the Haines Watts’ shareholders to complete what was a complex transaction.
Earlier in 2024 we acted for the selling shareholders of plumbing and pipeline merchants T. Crossling on the sale of the group to UK Plumbing Supplies. Crossling is a very well-known business, with more than 100 years history in the region and 16 branches nationally.
It was a real privilege to work with the longstanding owners on this significant transaction.
Recently we advised Sunderland engineering firm, Owben, on a management buy-out which has set the business up for its next phase of growth. We’ve advised the team at Owben for many years and it’s been a pleasure to see them through this latest stage of the company’s story.
And, as I mentioned, we’ve advised a growing number of clients on transitioning their businesses to employee ownership trusts, including leading national construction company, Meldrum Construction.
We’ve also been able to provide ongoing support via our Sintons Trust Corporation, which can act as a trustee for EOTs.
What is the outlook for 2025?
Despite businesses facing many challenges in the year ahead, the market is very resilient and we are already seeing a good pipeline of deals for 2025. The upcoming tax changes at the end of March is driving some activity in the first quarter but we predict that the team will continue to be busy for the remainder of 2025 across a range of sectors.
We have increased the size and strength of the team so we can maintain high service levels and continue to provide the partnerled support we’re known for. Our additional resource and depth of expertise positions us well for the year ahead.
You can find out more about Sintons’ corporate team and the work they undertake at www.sintons.co.uk