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Graham Spalding

We caught up with Graham Spalding, partner and head of our Business Services group, to find out more about his ambitious plans for the growth and development of the group which now comprises our Corporate, Commercial, Employment and Charities teams.

With a specialist interest in advising clients on corporate acquisitions and disposals typically in the £3-25 million deal size range, Graham has been instrumental in developing the group to widen the legal support it can provide to business and owner managers. It now advises clients on corporate transactions, reorganisations, commercial contracts, IP, employment, disputes, and related matters.

“I have always worked in the law, after seeing if tennis was a potential career option – it wasn’t! My career spans over 30 years, having spent six years at Eversheds, 17 years at Wragge Lawrence Graham (now Gowlings), and four years at City practice RPC, before joining Lodders in 2019. Over the last four years, my focus has primarily been to drive the strategic growth of Lodders’ Business Services group.”

The growth of the group has included key partner hires, including Bradley Quin (Corporate), Stuart Price (Commercial and IP) and Damian Kelly (Employment).

“We have our sights firmly set on becoming the “go-to” provider of commercially focused legal services to businesses in Warwickshire and the M40 corridor. We are very keen to build up the number and quality of our corporate clients with whom we work regularly. We work with the wider Business Services team across the firm’s network of offices, for example our Commercial Litigation, Property and Private Client groups, so can offer a great and responsive solution for most of the legal challenges businesses face.”

Lodders’ Corporate team completed a record-breaking £100 million total value of deals last year. Notable deals led by

Graham include the completion of the sale of Birmingham-headquartered Frontier Development Capital Limited to AIM-listed Mercia Asset Management plc in December 2022, followed hot on the heels by the £10 million sale of Sweetfuels Limited to AIM-listed NWF Fuels.

Graham explains: “The number and value of deals completed by the team have surpassed previous figures, with 2022/23 being a very active, busy, and rewarding period. As the team has grown (we now have two partners and five associates focused on corporate work, making us one of the larger teams in the region), so too has the typical deal size for us.

“We were particularly pleased to have acted on the sale of Frontier Development Capital. A well-known funder to regional and national M&A deals, Frontier Development Capital is also a significant provider of property finance, with £416 million funds under management at the time of the sale.