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Newcastle law firm Muckle LLP more than doubles size of its banking team

Following a challenging few years for law firms, Newcastle-based commercial law firm Muckle LLP has more than doubled the size of its banking team and seen significant growth in the turnover of the group.

With 11 staff in the core banking team plus other supporting team members, the team last year saw 12% growth and anticipates similar growth once again this year. Muckle is now thought to have the largest team of banking lawyers in the North East.

Last year the team helped deliver the biggest float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector for County-Durham-based Quantum Pharma plc.

The firm also played a key role in helping Home Group, one of the UK’s largest affordable housing providers, secure a series of loans worth over £100m.

Partner and Head of the Banking and Restructuring team, Louise Duffy, said: “We’ve been growing organically over the past five years as we have gained market share. People have been recruited into the team and we have also promoted from within.

“As a result, we have expanded our offering with specialists covering many different areas, from property finance to business restructuring, financial services disputes and capital markets.

“Our most recent recruit is senior associate, Nicola Nutley, who joined us from Bond Dickinson. It is great to add Nicola to our team. She is widely known in the region and has significant experience in the banking and finance sector.

“Our lawyers continue to develop innovative solutions for clients, often incorporating complex financing techniques, which are becoming an integral part of what we do. In the past year, we completed high value transactions for a number of financial institutions and borrowers.

“Our growth has also seen us invest in the social housing sector with the appointment of registered provider specialist, Russell Hall, last year and we are already seeing further opportunities in that area.

“We have also increased the number of banking panels that we are on, which are generating work both regionally and nationally.”

Recently promoted partner, Kevin Maloney, has witnessed increased opportunities in the general borrower market.

Kevin, who has a strong track record in leading and managing transactions, was recently involved in helping set up a joint venture company between BEL Valves and Newcastle University as part of a £10m subsea engineering facility for the Newcastle quayside.

Speaking about his work within the team, Kevin said: “We’ve worked on some really exciting and interesting transactions, especially over the last 12 to 18 months where we’ve seen some significant and complex deals coming through.”

Louise Duffy, added: “Double-digit growth is a considerable achievement for the team. The business environment is still challenging and we need constantly to focus on delivering an excellent service to all of our clients.

“That focus on client service and our ongoing commitment to this region will continue to be central to all that this firm stands for.”

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