Corporate tax in North West

Addleshaw Goddard

Noted for its ‘technical knowledge’ and ‘pragmatic’ approach, Addleshaw Goddard‘s tax and structuring team has broad expertise spanning real estate, private equity, and share incentive tax matters. Noted for its involvement in high-profile property transactions, the practice frequently handles fund structuring, joint ventures, developments, and forward funding arrangements. The practice is jointly steered by Justine Delroy and Michael Hunter. Delroy advises clients in the real estate, financial services, and life sciences sectors, with particular expertise in the tax and structuring aspects of M&A, joint ventures, and corporate reorganisations, while Hunter has deep knowledge across corporate M&A, real estate structuring, VAT, tax litigation, and acquisition finance. Catherine Concannon provides broad-based tax advice, with a core focus on corporate and employment taxation. Steven Porter joined the team from Pinsent Masons LLP in August 2025.

Responsables de la pratique:

Paul Concannon; Michael Hunter; Justine Delroy


Autres avocats clés:

Catherine Concannon; Steven Porter


Les références

‘Great team work across the relevant internal departments .i.e. corporate, real estate and tax.’

‘Approachable teams and individuals, providing a consistent and reliable service.’

‘The Addleshaw Goddard team has wide experience dealing with real estate clients on which it is useful to draw. The team has a good knowledge of all taxes which they can apply in an integrated way.’

Principaux clients

abrdn


Phoenix Equity Partners


Aviva Investors


Royal London


LDC


Federated Hermes


Citation


CPBE


Principaux dossiers


  • Advising Phoenix Equity Partners 2016 Guernsey Limited on the establishment of a new continuation fund by Phoenix pursuant to which it transferred two of its assets (the Nineteen group and the Envisage group) from its 2016 funds to the continuation funds and its 2022 funds.
  • Advised abrdn on the disposal, including advising on and negotiating the transaction documentation and assistance in preparing disclosures.

DLA Piper

DLA Piper UK LLP’s corporate tax team advises a diverse client base of venture capital funds, financial institutions, and both domestic and international corporates. The group is regularly instructed on high-profile matters such as VAT issues relating to civil aircraft, complex outsourcing arrangements, cross-border commercial contracts, and corporate restructurings. The practice is headed by David Thompson, who has extensive expertise in the tax implications of acquisitions, disposals, mergers, demergers, and group reorganisations.

Responsables de la pratique:

David Thompson


Principaux clients

Oval Gymkhana Holdco Limited


Stantec UK Limited


Sytner Group Ltd


Boporan Holdings Limited


Principaux dossiers


  • Advisnig the Sytner group in relation to the acquisition of a corporate group holding a network of premium car dealerships.

DWF

DWF’s corporate tax offering often collaborates with the firm’s corporate and real estate arms. Advising a broad mix of national and international clients, the practice covers everything from employee share schemes and incentive planning to private equity structuring and real estate-linked tax matters. The practice is led by James Cashman. Cashman, who works across the firm’s Manchester and Liverpool offices, regularly works on M&A activity, business restructures, and incentive implementation.

Responsables de la pratique:

James Cashman


Principaux clients

Whitbread PLC


Wincanton PLC


Growth Partner LLP


Crisp Thinking Group Limited (and its shareholders)


Tesco PLC


Assura PLC


Costa Coffee


Adidas (UK) Limited


NorthEdge Capital LLP


BT Group PLC


Pivotal Growth Limited


Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP


Sovereign Capital Partners


Unbound Group PLC


Mattioli Woods Limited


Connells Limited


James Halstead PLC


Bivictrix Therapeutics PLC


Daisy Group Holdings Limited


RMS International Limited


Principaux dossiers


  • Advised Plant Health Care PLC on its takeover by India’s PI Industries and the exercise and management of the employee share options and incentives.
  • Advised Wincanton PLC on the tax aspects of the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Invar Group Limited.
  • Advised G Webb Haulage Limited and its shareholders on the debt funded management buyout structure and disposal of the shares in G Webb Haulage Limited.

Squire Patton Boggs

The ‘very responsive’ team at Squire Patton Boggs, widely praised for its ‘fantastic knowledge’, is recognised for its depth of expertise across high-value corporate finance, private equity, and real estate transactions, supporting both UK-based and international clients. The practice also stands out for its strong capabilities in employment-related tax matters. At the helm is the ‘exceptional’ Patrick Ford , who is noted for his expertise in navigating the tax implications of employment, pensions, and insolvency matters. Victoria Murphy has considerable experience in advising on tax issues tied to acquisitions, buyouts, and private equity investments, and Alice Jenkinson is a key figure within the team.

Responsables de la pratique:

Patrick Ford


Autres avocats clés:

Victoria Murphy, Alice Jenkinson


Les références

‘The team is very responsive and has fantastic knowledge in the EBT Space.’

‘Patrick Ford at Squire Patton Boggs is exceptional. He is responsive, his advice is always very useful and thoughtful and his knowledge and support is hugely appreciated.’

Principaux clients

GB Group plc


Highview Power


ECI Partners


BGF Investments LP


EDF Renewables


Beyond Law Group


Watkin Jones plc


Growth Capital Partners


Lucite International


Deskpro


Greggs plc


Watkin Jones plc


H2 Equity Partners


Hurst Point Group


LMAX


Twinkl Limited


Knighthead Capital Management


Highview Power


LDC


Hippo Digital


Chiltern Capital


Principaux dossiers


  • Advising the Portakabin management team on the very high value and high profile sale of Portakabin to Antin Infrastructure Partners and advising the sellers and founders of Portakabin on their reinvestment into the buyer.
  • Advising GB Group plc on the renewal and relaunch of the company’s international savings-related employee share plan in multiple jurisdictions.
  • Advising energy-based infrastructure company Highview Power on a large investment into the fast-growing company led by UK Infrastructure Bank and the implementation of a new share-based management incentive plan.

Brabners LLP

‘Committed, diligent and well resourced’, the corporate tax group at Brabners LLP, led by ‘class act’ Dan Stowers, advises on financial crime and contentious tax matters, including complex fraud, POCA litigation, and regulatory investigations. Recent hires, which include Simon Ellis and Sarah Smith, have expanded the group’s capabilities in corporate defence, post-conviction work, and HMRC-related enquiries, acting for a range of individuals, SMEs and corporates.

Responsables de la pratique:

Dan Stowers


Autres avocats clés:

Simon Ellis; Sarah Smith; Natalia Aguilar


Les références

‘The go to tax team in Manchester. Committed, diligent and well resourced. ’

‘Natalia Aguilar is excellent. Very experienced in dealing with HMRC and completely unflappable. A real safe pair of hands.

‘Dan Stowers is also a class act. He brings white collar/regulatory perspective that really adds value.’

Principaux clients

Parul Keshavlal Malde


Beech Developments Manchester Limited and others


Principaux dossiers


  • Advised Parul Keshavlal Malde on appeals concerning assessments / penalties relating to VAT and excise duty of circa £25m, with associated freezing injunction.
  • Assisted Beech Developments Manchester Limited and others in appeals concerning CIS determinations of circa £5m and associated judicial review proceedings.

CMS

CMS‘ corporate tax team advises on the full spectrum of transactional and contentious matters, with particular strength in M&A, joint ventures and public company work. Known for its sector-driven approach and international reach, the team supports private capital investors, corporates and founders across a wide range of industries. Practice head Mark Whiteside focuses on tax aspects of corporate deals and real estate transactions, including mergers, reorganisations, and shareholder matters.

Responsables de la pratique:

Mark Whiteside


Autres avocats clés:

Howard Mayers


Weightmans LLP

Fielding an ‘extremely responsive’ team, Weightmans LLP‘s tax practice offers strategic counsel to a diverse roster of clients, including corporates, financial institutions, and advisory firms, with a strong focus on the tax elements of transactions such as mergers, sales, and investments. A notable area of strength is the firm’s work on employee incentive arrangements, with particular expertise in implementing enterprise management incentive schemes (EMI). Spearheading the team is the ‘technically astute and commercial’  Haydn Rogan, who is a trusted advisor to management teams, investors, and private equity houses, assisting them with transactional and commercial tax planning.

Responsables de la pratique:

Haydn Rogan


Les références

‘I have found Haydn to be extremely user friendly, responsive, cost efficient, technically astute and commercial at the same time. His ability to blend the latter 2 qualities is what sets him apart from the competition and clients really appreciate his ability to cut through the technical detail and focus on what really matters to get the deal done. I cannot recommend him highly enough.’

‘Haydn always over delivers, he turns documents around within very tight timeframes and is always a pleasure to deal with.’

‘Extremely responsive, quick turnaround with commercial advice.’

Principaux clients

Lucideon Group Limited


ANS Group Limited


Bestway National Chemists Limited t/a Well pharmacy


Business Growth Fund


DSW Angels LLP (t/a DSW Ventures)


My Property Box Limited


North Star Ventures


Royal Mail Group


My Property Box Limited


Staple Food Group Limited


Principaux dossiers


  • Advised My Property Box Limited, a Darlington-headquartered residential estate agency,on a restructuring and investment by BGF.
  • Advised the management team on the MBO of Full Circle Events & Exhibitions, an event exhibition services businessand its sister company, Psycho Peacock.
  • Advised HSS Hire Group on the sale of ABird Limited and Apex Generators Limited to CES Global.