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Widely recognised as the leading multi-category awards scheme and the only event to cover the whole of the Thames Valley, this is a date on the calendar not to be missed. This year’s awards takes place on Thursday 18th November at the Royal Berkshire Conference, Madejski Stadium, Reading, with Guest of Honour the Rt Hon Lord Paddy Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and now a mentor to Nick Clegg.

Attended by the cream of the region’s business community, the glittering black-tie evening applauds and celebrates success. From some of the best known corporate names to small and medium sized enterprises who have succeeded in their chosen fields, it is a time to reward entrepreneurial spirit, to gain recognition among your peers and say a very special thank you to staff and customers alike.

The search is on to find the Thames Valley Business of the Year, with the award open to every company in the area. It recognises not only profitability, innovation and employment but also the contribution made to the local economic community and the provision of support to culture and charities in the region.

Pitmans is proud to sponsor the Thames Valley Business of the Year Award, with managing partner Christopher Avery advising what companies should be doing to impress the judges:

“Our award is different because we’re looking for those companies which fulfil criteria across four clear sectors – financial success, employees, innovation and impact on the local community.”

“That means a company which might be doing very well in terms of profit, but doesn’t take any form of social responsibility, won’t be the one the judges vote for. Our winner doesn’t have to be the biggest company, or from any particular sector, but it does have to show us it takes an all-round approach and has a real passion for what it is doing.”

“Of course, we want companies which are successful and can demonstrate entrepreneurial spirit and innovative ideas, but it’s also important that they look after their staff and provide support to the local community – either in the shape of charitable works or through cultural events.”

Pitmans has sponsored the Business of the Year category since the awards began in 1994 and top names who have walked away with the trophy in the past include Sun Microsystems, Connells, 02 (UK) Barracuda and Drive Tech. Last year’s winner was SDL, who were winners in 2007 as well.

Other award categories include:
Dynamic Business Of The Year (sponsored by Deloitte)
Business Management Team (sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland)
SME Of The Year (sponsored by James Cowper)
Best Company To Work For Award (sponsored by Vail Williams)
Thames Valley Export Award (UK Trade & Investment)

Closing date for entries is 30 September 2010. For more information, please visit http://www.businessawards.co.uk/

Leading law firm Pitmans announces a new phase in the development of its corporate department with the promotion of Andrew Peddie to head of corporate and the appointment of Adam Dowdney to the role of corporate business development partner.

Andrew has more than 20 years’ experience of corporate law, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He trained and qualified at Linklaters, before becoming a partner at Garretts / Andersen Legal in Reading in 2000 and then merging that office into Olswang in May 2002. He joined Pitmans in April 2009.

Christopher Avery, managing partner of Pitmans, comments: “Since his arrival at the firm, Andrew has proven to be a lawyer of considerable expertise who is respected across the sector. He has been an integral part of our corporate department’s continued success as the leading team in the region.

“His experience and skills make him ideally-suited to leading the department and I am sure, with the support of the rest of the corporate team, he will drive it forward to future success.”

Adam has been a partner at Pitmans since 2007, having also started his career with Linklaters before moving to Charles Russell. As with Andrew, he is a high-profile figure in the Thames Valley professional services community and his focus is on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance work for a wide range of clients in the region.

Christopher Avery continues: “Adam’s abilities both in transaction work and business development are such that we wanted to formalise his role in continuing to drive forward much of the department’s marketing effort, particularly with other professional dealmakers in the Thames Valley among whom he is so well-known.”

Andrew’s promotion to head of corporate follows the standing down of John Hutchinson from the same role to concentrate more on his Epi-V private equity business. John remains a partner of Pitmans and will continue to represent the firm.

Christopher Avery adds: “John’s work with Epi-V has been undertaken with full support of the Pitmans senior management team and we understand his decision to focus more on this venture. He remains a partner of Pitmans and will continue to work with his existing client base to offer the very best levels of advice and representation.”

Leading law firm Pitmans has acted on behalf of AIM broker Hybridan LLP in connection with its successful £2 million fundraising for niche sensor and monitoring developer Transense Technologies plc.

The fundraising completed on 1 July 2010 and saw the placing of 45,288,887 new Ordinary Shares on AIM at a price of 4.5 pence per share, raising £2,038,000 (before expenses) together with 1 warrant for every 1 new ordinary share placed.

Hybridan specialises in raising capital for companies in the most efficient manner possible, whether by straight equity or otherwise, with areas of expertise including equity placing, structured finance, private equity, management buy-outs and take privates.

Janice Wall, corporate partner and head of the London Office at Pitmans, comments: “It was a pleasure to work with Claire and Stephen again on their successful fundraising for Transense Technologies plc in what was a difficult market. Hybridan is a very accomplished, specialised small cap AIM broker successfully raising money for small and micro cap AIM-listed plcs.”

Listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, Transense Technologies is a technology transfer company that develops surface acoustic wave (SAW), wireless, batteryless, sensor systems for the automotive and industrial markets. Current applications including tyre pressure monitoring systems and torque systems for electrical power-assisted steering and driveline management.

Claire Noyce, joint managing partner of Hybridan LLP, comments: “Having worked with Pitmans on previous fundraisings, we knew that the firm had the expertise and experience to provide the service and advice we needed for this placing. With all placings it is absolutely imperative to assemble the best team possible and Pitmans was an integral part of the fundraising’s success.”

Pitmans, the leading Thames Valley law firm with offices in London and Reading, has acted on behalf of Cohort plc, the independent technology group, and its wholly owned subsidiary MASS Consultants Limited (“MASS”) in the acquisition by MASS of the entire share capital of Abacus EW Consultancy Limited for an initial cash consideration of £1.0m payable on completion and a further performance-related cash consideration of up to £1.8m over three years. The transaction was led by Pitmans Corporate Partner Andrew Peddie assisted by Rishi Sharma, Corporate Solicitor.

Commenting on the acquisition, Andrew Thomis, Chief Executive of Cohort plc said:
“This small but important transaction adds depth, breadth and new customers to an already successful offering from our MASS business in the export EW market. This very much reinforces our niche capability in this field and I welcome Paul Burrows and his team into Cohort.”

Andrew Peddie, Pitmans Corporate Partner added:
“It was very satisfying to conclude this acquisition for Cohort plc, a long-standing client. The transaction involved complex elements (including the performance-related cash consideration), and we were pleased to provide the depth of expertise in the tight timetable that our client required”.

Pitmans positions itself as leading law firm with new brand identity

Leading law firm Pitmans has unveiled a new brand identity as it looks to capitalise on its success and position itself as a practice with market-leading credentials.

Retaining the respected Pitmans name, but incorporating a stylish redesigned logo, fresh corporate colours and a new strapline – “Making It Humanly Possible” – the rebrand reflects the values and aspirations of the firm and positions it for continued success across all of its areas of operation.

The Reading and City of London based firm officially unveiled its new branding on May 17^th 2010. To publicise the changes, in an innovative law industry first, Pitmans published a special commemorative newspaper, ‘Pitmans Times’, with articles contributed by partners within the firm, providing an overview of the new brand and a review of the practice’s latest successes.

Christopher Avery, Managing Partner of Read the rest of this entry »

Pitmans, the Thames Valley ‘Law Firm of the Year’ 2008/09 award winner, has boosted its Corporate team with the appointment of Andrew Priest as Information Technology Partner, who joins the firm’s London office from Pinsent Masons LLP.

Andrew is a senior IT lawyer specialising in IT outsourcing projects and other major IT contracts including software related arrangements and online gambling. At Pinsent Masons he led teams on numerous deals, and mentored junior lawyers. Andrew also holds an MBA from Manchester Business School.

In recent years Andrew has advised on a number of significant IT projects in both the private and public sectors including, notably, deals for Whitbread Plc (desktop outsourcing), William Hill Online (online gaming), the Legal Services Commission (delivery transformation), Vertex Data Science (IT outsourcing) and Genting Stanley Alderney (online gaming). Andrew has also previously advised on ICT arrangements for the Department for Work & Pensions, Fujitsu Services, AOL UK and the Highland Council.

Commenting on the appointment, Christopher Avery, Managing Partner at Pitmans, said:

“This new hire is in line with Pitmans’ growth plans for our firmly established London office, which recently saw the addition of a new sport and entertainment practice. Andrew’s expertise in the TMT sector will further boost the firm’s existing offering in this area”.

Andrew Priest added: “I am looking forward to developing the firm’s ICT practice, building on a good range of existing clients in London and the M4 corridor. ICT systems are increasingly important for many businesses, not only in terms of internal processing but also in enabling delivery of strategic objectives in the marketplace“.

Pitmans, the leading Thames Valley law firm with offices in London and Reading has strengthened its Dispute Resolution and Pensions teams with three new directorships announced.

Jonathan Durrant and William Richmond-Coggan joined Pitmans in 2005 and 2007 respectively, and have been promoted to Director within the Dispute Resolution team.  Richmond-Coggan is also a Solicitor Advocate.  Chris Netiatis joined Pitmans in 2006 and has been promoted to Director within the Pensions team.  Netiatis also heads up the firm’s Criminal Law service.

Managing Partner, Christopher Avery commented:
“Pitmans is a firm that refuses to stand still.  These promotions underline our commitment to our staff, our desire to recognise everyone’s contribution and reward it accordingly.

It is our intention to continue to build the firm through a combination of promotion from within and outside recruitment, to ensure that the firm has a good blend of knowledge, experience and business acumen to meet the demands of the modern commercial world.”