Record-breaking year for law firm

The expanded corporate team advised on 36 deals with a combined value of more than £350 million – and has experienced a strong start to the current year.

The eight-partner team, led by James Fawcett, acted on a range of multi-million pound transactions last year, including some of the region’s most high-profile deals.

These included the sale of Skipton-based civil engineers J N Bentley to global construction consultancy Mott MacDonald and Bradford-based Morrisons’ sale of online baby superstore Kiddicare to Leeds-based private equity house Endless.

Gordons also advised Enact, the dedicated SME fund managed by Endless, on its first three investments.

In other private equity deals, the team advised the management of recruitment company GatenbySanderson on their buy-out of the business, backed by Primary Capital, and the management of Blue Motor Finance on the investment by Cabot Square Capital.

James Fawcett said: “2014 was a very successful year for the corporate team and indicative of confidence returning to the market in the region. We had a great mix of transactions which allowed us to demonstrate our versatility, strength in depth and ability to make things happen.”

Gordons expanded its corporate team by recruiting solicitors Rebecca Whitehouse and Jay Radley. Amanda Hughes also joined the team after qualifying as a solicitor with Gordons.

“2015 started where we left off last year and, looking at the deals we’re advising on, we’re looking forward to another excellent year,” added James.

Gordons has been appointed by food retailer Iceland to support its growth strategy.

Gordons will initially provide advice on property and commercial matters, alongside Iceland’s existing advisers Tarsem Dhaliwal, Iceland’s chief financial officer, said: “We wanted to find a law firm with genuine retail expertise. We found what we were looking for in Gordons.We were impressed by the firm’s knowledge and experience within the retail sector.”