A new venture

Left to right: Ashley Garthwaite, James Curran and Brooke Jefferson

Recruitment drive continues as part of planned growth strategy

It has been a busy year for our team and an influx of new work is behind a series of new appointments and a ramping up of the practice’s ongoing recruitment drive.

In 2020 alone, our Commercial Property team advised on ten different development sites and completed more than 120 plot sales. Our Dispute Resolution team recently completed its 200th instruction for Leeds City Council and, in August this year, we were once again named by Experian as one of the North East’s top 5 M&A advisors by volume of deals completed in 2021 YTD.

As a result, Swinburne Maddison ended the financial year on a high, enjoying an increase in year-on-year fee income of 9.8% and a rise in net profits of 24.6% compared to 2019’s financial performance.

To manage this continued increase in demand for our awardwinning services and prepare for further growth, we have welcomed the arrival of 13 new faces.

Commercial Property

Elly Swinburne, a recently qualified Solicitor, joins us from a major Newcastle law firm to work in the Commercial Property team, together with Liam Musgrave, who joins as a Paralegal. Together they will be working on a wide range of matters, including work for Esh Group and the many instructions from Atom Bank. The team will also benefit from the support of two new secretaries, Brooke Jefferson and Karen Parlett.

Residential Property

Following the introduction (and then the extension) of the SDLT holiday by the government and the subsequent upturn in demand for services across the whole of the property market, our conveyancing team were delighted to welcome additional secretarial support from Grace Ridsdale and Rachael Metcalfe earlier this year. We also celebrated Ashley Garthwaite becoming a qualified Solicitor. Ashley joined Swinburne Maddison in 2016 as a secretary, later progressing to a Paralegal role and has since worked hard to complete her training as a Solicitor.

Administration

Shubana Ali joined us earlier this year as an Administrative Assistant providing support across the firm’s wider operations and Matt Dobson stepped into a newly-created role as our inhouse ICT Analyst. Both roles are the first in what is expected to be a series of new roles in administration that we will be looking to create over the coming years as part of the management team’s strategy to streamline internal procedures and improve the client experience. Glenda Henderson has joined us as an Accounts Assistant and will support both clients and our members of our team.

Corporate

In an internal appointment, Ashley Patterson, formerly a PA in the Corporate and Commercial team, has been appointed a Trainee Solicitor, while Beth Langley and Lauren Willcox join the same team as PA and Secretary respectively.

Dispute Resolution

We were delighted to welcome James Curran, a newly qualified solicitor, who has joined the Dispute Resolution team from a Carlisle law firm and will be working on a high volume of work from Leeds City Council. Also assisting the team in servicing this stream of work is newest recruit, Alex Siddle, who joined the team as a Paralegal at the end of October. Left to right: Elly Swinburne, Liam Musgrave, Beth Langley, Matt Dobson, Grace Ridsdale, Rachael Metcalfe, Shubana Ali and Ashley Patterson

Meet the new Solicitors

Elly Swinburne Commercial Property

Elly is a solicitor in the Commercial Property team where she acts in a wide range of matters for a broad client base including landlords, tenants and banks, whilst also supporting the Partners with some of the team’s major development projects.

Ashley Garthwaite Residential Property

Ashley joined Swinburne Maddison LLP in 2016 and commenced her Training Contract in 2019. During her training, Ashley gained experience of a wide range of property matters, including acting on behalf of local authorities in relation to “empty homes purchases”. Since qualifying as a Solicitor in February 2021, Ashley specialises in residential property matters.

James Curran Dispute Resolution

James is a solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team where, in addition to a rapidly growing housing disrepair caseload, he is regularly instructed by business and individuals on a wide range of matters including commercial disputes, debt recovery and property litigation.