Birketts LLP is a UK Top 50 law firm with a top tier, 70+ strong corporate team and a leading private client practice.

We advise clients across a range of sectors and at all stages in the business life cycle from start-up to exit. Our work encompasses fund raising, re-financing and general business advice (including employment, IP protection, security contract review and tax).

We have particular experience of providing commercially-focused legal advice to startups, scale-ups and investors navigating early-stage funding and venture capital transactions.

Corporate Services for Founders and Growth Businesses

We help founders structure their businesses for investment and growth. Our early-stage funding experts advise on everything from angel funding or seed rounds to Series A and beyond, including:

  • Term sheets and heads of terms
  • Shareholder and investment agreements
  • Articles of association and corporate structuring
  • Convertible loan notes and equity warrants
  • Employee share option schemes (including EMI)
  • Service agreements and IP assignments
  • Due diligence preparation and governance

 Corporate Services for Angel Investors

We act for venture capital firms, angel syndicates and corporate investors, providing strategic legal advice on:

  • Deal structuring and risk mitigation
  • SEIS and EIS issues
  • Legal due diligence and compliance
  • Governance and investor rights
  • Exit planning and follow-on funding rounds

Private Client Services for Angel Investors

We are also experienced in advising angel investors on private client issues, including:

 

Our Experts

Paul Thompson, Partner, Private Client

Paul Thompson has 30 years’ experience of acting for families, entrepreneurs, trustees, landowners and charities on succession planning, trusts and capital taxes, as well as on strategies for mitigating tax and protecting assets.

Paul has a loyal and long-standing set of clients, often spanning several generations. They appreciate his clear and creative advice, his technical nous and his rapid and personable approach.

Based in London, but also maintaining a strong East Midlands practice, Paul routinely advises on succession inheritance tax, wills, probate, trusts, partnerships and powers of attorney. Paul works closely with accountants, wealth advisers and land agents.

Recent work highlights

  • Acting for a new £50m family investment company for an entrepreneur who had recently sold up.
  • Principal adviser to the trustees of a family trust that owns a national building company.
  • Acting as family adviser to the owners of a string of 26 garden centres in the UK.

Paul has a particular interest in advising business owners and investors on their estate and succession planning issues and is the lead relationship partner for E100, one of the UK’s longest running angel clubs.

Paul qualified as a private client lawyer in 1996 and has been a Partner since 2003.He joined Birketts in 2024.

 

Matt Stratton, Partner, Corporate

Matt Stratton is a corporate Partner, based in London. His experience covers a diverse range of sectors and clients including transport and logistics, PR, tech, telecoms and real estate.

Matt has many years’ experience of cross-border M&A transactions and has acted for clients across the globe. Most recently, he has acted for clients in the shipping industry on international joint ventures and in the transportation industry on domestic and international M&A. In addition to his mainstream M&A practice, Matt also advises on group restructurings, corporate governance, fund raisings and investments.

Matt regularly advises on early-stage funding and venture capital transactions and is the Firm’s lead relationship partner for E100, one of the UK’s longest running angel clubs.

Recent work highlights

  • Advised the Director-Shareholders on the sale of Datalynx Limited to CACI Limited. Datalynx provides specialist data management solutions to public, corporate and software clients, in particular delivering cloud migration services in mission-critical environments to government clients, including the UK Home Office.
  • Advised on the sale of the entire share capital of Collected-Group Limited, an independent healthcare communications agency.
  • Advised the shareholders of Greek pharmaceuticals company Pharma-Data S.A. on its sale to Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
  • Advised the Vanderkamp Group on the UK aspects of its sale to, and reinvestment in, Workdry International as backed by its independent fund manager Arcus Infrastructure Partners.
  • Advised Chinese Maritime Transport Limited on UK aspects of its newcastlemax bulker vessel newbuild programme.

Matt qualified in 1999 and became a Partner at an international City firm in 2014. He joined Birketts in September 2023.

 

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