NEWS ANTHONY COLLINS SOLICITORS APPOINTED TO PLATFORM HOUSING GROUP LEGAL SERVICES FRAMEWORK GATELEY ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF ADAMSON JONES Working alongside Gateley Legal’s intellectual property, commercial and technical lawyers and the R&D tax consultants within Gateley Capitus Adamson Jones complements the Group’s existing services in IP and technology, brand and reputation management, media and privacy and is the eleventh business Gateley has acquired since its IPO in June 2015 and is the Group’s first Business Services Platform acquisition. Business Services is one of Gateley’s four Platforms, the others being Corporate, People, and Property. These are market-facing structures on which the Group clusters complementary legal, and consultancy services. The Business Services Platform supports clients in dealing with their commercial agreements, managing risk, protecting assets, and resolving disputes. It also includes the Group’s multijurisdictional forensics and business intelligence services, through Gateley Omega. Adamson Jones complements the Group’s existing legal services in IP and technology, brand and reputation management, media, and privacy.
Birmingham-based law firm Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) has been appointed to the Platform Housing Group legal services framework: property, housing management, and corporate and finance. The contract, commencing in January 2022, will run for a period of four years. Platform Housing Group – which owns 46,000 homes in total – completed 1,448 homes in 2019/20 (1,598 in 2018/19) at an investment of £258m (£228m in 2018/19). The Group also built more social rented homes – at a figure of 981 – during the past 2 years in England than any other provider, 523 in 2019/20, almost 33% of the total homes built. Throughout the duration of its contract with the Group, ACS will provide legal counsel and support on areas such as social housing finance, corporate and governance, dispute, construction and commercial contracts.
Specialist ACS legal teams will be led by Jonathan Cox, housing partner at the social purpose law firm. Jonathan has over 25 years' experience in the sector and has worked on a number of landmark social housing projects, enabling the delivery of sustainable and affordable housing. Nathan Barson, procurement director at Platform Housing Group said: “It is great to see our new Category Management function using the tools and techniques to deliver such high quality work; not only have we successfully mapped our complex requirements
but we have managed to secure commercially robust agreements with some of the country's leading law firms. “We have added value, successfully matched our ambitions to the leading players in the market and ensured we have the partnerships in place for a truly modern housing association.” Jonathan Cox, partner at ACS, commented: “We are proud to have been appointed to the Platform Housing Group legal services framework and look forward to working closely with the association and other law firms appointed to this panel.”
PROMOTION FOR IZZY CANNING TO ASSOCIATE SOLICITOR AT AVERTA Solihull based Averta Employment Lawyers has promoted Izzy Canning to Associate. Canning joined the firm in 2016 and qualified in 2020. Averta is an award winning, boutique employment law firm which was founded by ex DLA Piper partners Alan Jones and David Sykes. Senior partner, Alan Jones, commented on Canning’s promotion saying: “Izzy is an extremely capable employment lawyer and a key part of our team. She is now ready to take the next step in her career and take on more responsibility as an Associate.”
Canning added: “Working alongside experienced lawyers such as David and Alan has given me enormous knowledge, not only of the legal issues involved, but also how to deal with people facing career change, redundancy or discrimination.It is rewarding to be able to add to the life skills I acquired in previous work situations’ ’ Canning had previously worked in academic publishing before switching careers and she completed the LPC part time at BPP University in 2018. In her free time Canning is keen to do voluntary work, and has worked with the Samaritans and the Personal Support Unit at the Birmingham Civil Courts. Averta Employment Lawyers specialises in giving advice to senior executives and professionals across both the private and public sectors. The firm has particular expertise in negotiating exit strategies for senior executives and also provides strategic employment law advice to companies.
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