Based in Sheffield, DLA Piper acts for blue chip and international clients on a wide range of employment mandates, assisting on the employment aspects of wider global transactions in addition to undertaking advisory, litigation, outsourcing, and restructuring work. The firm is noted for its expertise in whistleblowing and harassment matters in the workplace concerning senior individuals in high-profile companies. Clare Gregory heads the practice and focuses on cross-border mandates, while Gurpreet Duhra has experience in technology, hospitality, and manufacturing sectors. Aaron Lyons is another key contact in the group.
Employment: Sheffield and South Yorkshire in Yorkshire And The Humber
DLA Piper
Practice head(s):
Clare Gregory
Other key lawyers:
Gurpreet Duhra; Aaron Lyons
Testimonials
‘The team are professional but very approachable and friendly. They listen well and respond to our needs. They do not just stick to black and white legalities, but look at how they can best support us in our various situations where we need their help.’
‘Gurpreet Duhra is very accessible and supportive, switched on, and always willing to support.’
‘Advice cuts to the issues. Pragmatic and no nonsense, and extremely commercial in approach. You feel like the team are with you in the fire!’
‘Their responsiveness is very good. I feel they really are in the trenches with you.’
Key clients
University of Sheffield
Rolls Royce
Puma
Currys
Merlin Entertainments
Ardagh Group
Croda International
Grenade
ServiceNow
Utopia Music
Work highlights
- Advising a client on the employment aspect of its £1.7bn sale across 9 jurisdictions, including the UK.
- Acting for a client in a claim concerning the terms under which 16 claimants had been engaged to provide services to the client in the industrials sector.
- Defending a client from a departing employee’s claim that he had been constructively dismissed and subjected to detriment having made a series of protected disclosures.
CMS
CMS has a broad employment offering, with particular strengths including corporate support work, especially regarding private equity; real estate and transactional support; and litigation, specifically Employment Tribunal claims. The firm also undertakes day-to-day advisory work for clients, and has a strong track record in major restructurings. The 'fantastic' Tracey Marsden heads up the Sheffield team, with significant experience across industrial relations, transfers, redundancies, and restructurings. Associate Emma Sweetman is also noted for her work in conjunction with the private equity and corporate teams.
Practice head(s):
Tracey Marsden; Alison Woods; Melanie Lane
Other key lawyers:
Emma Sweetman
Testimonials
‘Tracey Marsden and her team are no nonsense, straight to the point and don’t sit on the fence. They are also very quick to respond and don’t just tell you what they think you want to hear.’
‘Tracey Marsden is fantastic: very responsive, never sits on the fence, provides clear and sensible advice at all times, and is so friendly. I always feel that no question is a stupid question when I call Tracey.’
‘The employment team have access to the wider CMS practice which has a wide area of specialities and knowledge that can be utilised to assist the employment team and their clients where necessary.’
Key clients
Agilio Software Bidco Limited
Brightbay Real Estate Partners Limited
Forged Solutions Group Limited
Great Portland Estates PLC
Hazy Limited
J Rosenthal & Son
Low Carbon Contract Company Limited
Mines Rescue Service
Picnic Bidco Limited
Rackham Housefloors Limited
Salary Finance Limited
Sapphire Systems Limited
SEGRO plc
St George PLC
Solpro Group
Thor Investment Adviser Limited
TopSource Worldwide Group Limited
Agility Eco Limited
CFC Underwriting Limited
Queens Park Equity
Bridges Fund Management
NavVis Limited
Ahrend BV
easyHotels
Sonderwell Bidco Limited
Octopus Energy
Orchard Therapeutics
Work highlights
- Advised Octopus on the takeover of Bulb Energy, a transaction which included an energy transfer scheme for the first time in the UK.
- Acted for CFC Underwriting Limited in representing a number of their insureds in ongoing tribunal proceedings.
Freeths LLP
Freeths LLP's 'modern practice' covers the full range of employment work, advising and providing HR support to a number of major national clients across the engineering, food and drink, sport, travel, healthcare, and technology sectors. The team has an established track record defending Employment Tribunal claims and in redundancy exercises, with the newly promoted Tom Draper conducting his own advocacy and working with a number of large public and private sector organisations. Senior Associate Toby Pochron has a specialist interest in data protection and trade union work.
Practice head(s):
Tom Draper
Other key lawyers:
Toby Pochron
Testimonials
‘The lawyers are down-to-earth and understand that the practicalities of running a business mean you need them to give you pragmatic advice and they have done this very well for us, both in relation to general questions and detailed legal issues over a number of years.’
‘Tom Draper continually gives solid advice on a range of complex employment matters.’
‘The Freeths Sheffield employment team are pragmatic, commercially aware, astute and informed. They have taken the time to understand the intricacies of our organisation to deliver an informed perspective on issues, acting as a true business partner. Knowing our business and what is important to us allows the Freeths team to pre-empt issues proactively, allowing us to address them at the root cause.’
‘Tom Draper continues to build an outstanding employment team in Sheffield. The bench strength of the team from partner down is exceptional and evident in the development and progression from trainees through to senior positions, a responsibility for which Tom Draper takes personal ownership.’
‘Freeths is a modern practice. Communication is simple and understandable, and they are down-to-earth, extremely helpful and make me feel confident.’
‘Toby Pochoran is great to work with and he uses language that helps me understand complex legislation. He never sits on the fence, he always tells me what my options and the risks are and supports me through them. I always feel confident with what I am doing after I have taken advice and support from Toby.’
‘The employment law team at Freeths are knowledgeable, responsive and work in partnership with our internal people and legal teams. They work flexibly according to our specific needs on an issue, positioning their engagement on a case-by-case basis. They are friendly, professional and our go-to employment advisers.’
‘We work with Toby Pochron, who exemplifies everything we see in Freeths. He offers professional and practical advice that is always specific to our business requirements. He works in close partnership with our teams as a truly trusted adviser.’
Key clients
NG Bailey Group
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Limited
Queenscourt Limited
ASK4 Group
NTT Data UK Limited
AESSEAL plc
Ant Marketing Limited
Northern Taxis Limited
Progressive Care Limited
Abbey Care & Nursing
Cathelco Limited
In-Part Publishing Limited
Abbotsbury Contractors Limited
Nimble Delivery Limited
Elevation Recruitment Limited
Tessian Limited
Boynton Bros. & Hallam (Ranskill) Limited
InfoTrack limited
St Luke’s Hospice
Tutora Limited
Litigationware Limited
Blossom View Respite Unit Limited
Ivy Cottage Limited
Work highlights
- Advised Boynton Bros. Hallam (Ranskill) Limited on urgent employment matters when its tyre recycling business was forced to close after a catastrophic fire.
- Defended GDMA Care Group in an Employment Tribunal claim for breach of contract.
- Assisted Northern Taxis on reforming their internal HR governance.
Irwin Mitchell
Irwin Mitchell's Sheffield office is co-headed by Kelly Gibson, who acts for a number of major clients and provides employment support for the corporate team. Associate and co-head Sara Ellison has done a substantial amount of work in the charities sector, particularly in relation to HR and Employment Tribunal advice. Associate Holly Butterworth also assists in managing the practice, employing her previous experience as in-house HR for a range of businesses.
Practice head(s):
Kelly Gibson; Sara Ellison
Other key lawyers:
Holly Butterworth
Testimonials
‘Our key contact is always available, responds quickly, and in her absence has colleagues who take over the baton.’
‘Responses are thorough, well worked out, and very helpful, and we can apply them instantly to whatever legal question we need to answer.’
‘The personal approach means we genuinely feel our queries are dealt with and the advice is highly personalised rather than providing generic feedback, something which we feel is wonderful.’
‘Kelly Gibson shows interest in what we do, gives professional and tailored advice, and she makes time to deal with our enquiries.’
Key clients
Amino Communications plc
Association of Colleges
Begbies Traynor Plc
Capita PLC
Cash Converters
Costa Coffee
DAS
ERS Medical
Floorbrite Group
Firesprite Gaming
Headway Group
Henry Boot PLC
Maher Limited
MJ Gleeson plc
New College Durham
Newson Health Limited
North Huddersfield Trust School
Overgate Hospice
Premex Services Limited
Pure Gym
Westfield Health
Work highlights
- Advised a large number of Colleges on the impact of the Harpur Trust and Brazel holiday pay case for term-time workers.
Lupton Fawcett
Lupton Fawcett acts for clients across a range of industries regarding their Employment Tribunal claims, and has a number of other notable capabilities, including advising on issues relating to national minimum wage and senior-level departures. Glenn Jacques operates from Sheffield, advising on redundancies, restructurings, TUPE issues, and Employment Tribunal claims, in addition to providing corporate support. Holly Dobson heads up the data protection work across the firm and acts for a number of clients across the education, travel, healthcare, and charity sectors.
Practice head(s):
Andrew Gilchrist
Other key lawyers:
Glenn Jacques; Holly Dobson
Testimonials
‘I have found the team to be really helpful, ensuring there is always someone available when advice is required.’
‘They provide concise and clear solutions to our issues, and provide clear step-by-step guidance on how to proceed.’
‘Holly Dobson is able to quickly understand our concerns and the subtleties of our scenarios, quickly providing advice which is relevant and practical.’
Key clients
Arcelor Mittal Sheffield Limited
Tuffnells Parcels Express Limited
Porter Brook Medical Centre
Trupart Limited
Skyline Taxis Limited
Renovotec Limited
Alfons Haar Limited
Brett Martin
Bauer Group Limited
Work highlights
- Advised Tuffnells Parcels Express Limited on a multitude of contentious and non-contentious HR and employment issues.
- Advised Transave Credit Union on numerous employment issues affecting the company and their compliance with employment and financial services regulations.
- Advised Porter Brook Medical Centre on a range of employment and healthcare compliance issues under the firm’s employment retainer scheme.