North East commercial law firm, Square One Law, opened its Teesside office in Stockton last June and has continued to expand to support its growing client base.
The firm acts for companies including Able UK, px Group, JDR Cables, Armstong Energy and Fine Organics, as well as holding a position on the Tees Valley Combined Authority advisory panel and the South Tees Development Corporation on the regeneration of the former SSI site.
Senior partner, Ian Gilthorpe said : “Our business on Teesside continues to make very good progress and whilst we are looking to develop a one firm approach from our Newcastle and Teesside offices, the time is now right to appoint, partner, Michael Shuker, to take on the responsibility of running the Teesside office, as a precursor to extending the business and recruiting more people on Teesside.
“Michael Shuker is an established property partner who also has experience across a wide range of sectors, including energy and finance. He has been with Square One Law for five years and in that time has acted for a broad range of UK and international businesses.
“Michael will be the Teesside office partner, overseeing our Stockton-on-Tees operation, managing the team and working closely with clients across the area.”
Michael commented: “It’s an exciting time to be taking on this role because it coincides with an extremely interesting time for Teesside itself. There’s growth in a variety of sectors in the region, such as advanced manufacturing, energy, bio-sciences, digital and IT and we regard this regional activity as a great opportunity to build a platform of specialist legal services to offer local businesses.
“There is a really positive attitude in the Tees Valley, which is reflected in the confidence being shown by businesses operating from the region, together with the developments being delivered by the Mayor and the Combined Authority. We see this as an ongoing project and want to build upon our existing relationships in the area to establish an important presence to not only support our clients, but also the economic growth of the Tees Valley.”
Ian Gilthorpe continued: “The Tees Valley contains some very entrepreneurial and driven individuals and businesses, who need experienced lawyers who are highly responsive and give them commercial opinions, not just a list of legal options.
“We are working on some extremely interesting projects, such as, Armstrong Energy, who are investing in some of the newest and most innovative technologies helping to tackle the problem of plastic waste and have chosen Teesside for its strong track record in the chemical industry and see huge potential for this region as the skilled workforce, infrastructure and supply chain is still in place.”
Supporting Michael and the team in the Tees Valley office are partners: Marie- Louise Bozonet (corporate and head of energy), Helen Brain (commercial), Neil Warwick (EU and competition law), senior partner Ian Gilthorpe and senior associate Julie Dalzell (employment), together with resources, as required, from its Newcastle office.
