Tapestry Compliance

Tapestry is a multi-award-winning boutique law firm specialising in global executive and employee share schemes and incentives. We offer excellent legal service to clients whilst maintaining our ethos of agile working and value for money. We provide insight-driven global solutions, and leading UK technical-expertise.

We have celebrated our second anniversary as an employee-owned business following the formation of an Employee Ownership Trust. Whilst always up against large City firms, the strength and quality of our offering means we continue to enjoy substantial growth, both in team size and client roster. Our clients have access to specialist, experienced, lawyers for significantly less; providing all-round better service.

Team
We are the largest incentives team in any UK law firm, providing the breadth of expertise and experience to match any of the big law firms.

Our partner-equivalents (Hannah Needle, Chris Fallon and Suzannah Crookes) lead the team, providing thought-leadership and a wealth of industry expertise.

Our other notable lawyers, all with certain specialisms (see individuals’ supporting information), include Sarah Bruce, Lorna Parkin, Sally Blanchflower, Emma Parker, Matthew Hunter, Steve Penfold, Paul Abthorpe and Tom Parker.

Bob Grayson’s consultancy brings immense practical expertise and longstanding industry relationships.

Margaret Rankin recently joined from EY. Becky Moore has just joined after 9 years at Clifford Chance, where she was included in Chambers/Legal 500.

Clients
We advise many of the world’s leading companies. We are the year-in, year-out trusted adviser on global incentive arrangements, fostering long-term relationships and repeat instructions on plan implementation, documentation and legal/tax compliance, including from Unilever, Sage, Rolls-Royce and The Coca-Cola Company. Flagship clients have remained with us since inception, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. This is complemented by many recent wins from other top firms this year including Tesco, Getty Images and Experian.

We advise many banks, insurers and asset managers (including HSBC, Aviva and Schroders) on a range of remuneration and regulatory topics, including for fund-based incentives, globally.

We also support our clients on the impact of corporate actions on their incentive plans.

Industry-leading
Tapestry is well-known for its thought-leadership and proactivity in industry organisations including the Global Equity Organisation (GEO, of which Hannah Needle sits on the Board of Directors), ProShare (for whom a number of our team lead on their industry Focus Groups), Share Plans Lawyers Group (SPLG, in which our lawyers hold Chair, Secretary and Committee positions) and National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and support for those organisations with government/HMRC lobbying. Hannah has also recently been appointed to the Practical Law Share Schemes & Incentives Consultation Board, highlighting our pre-eminence in the industry.

Technology is a key strength of ours; developing new ways of providing easily-accessible, cost-effective legal services. OnTap, our innovative online database, provides legal/tax information in 150+ countries, helping companies manage incentives compliance more efficiently. Our webinar and roundtable programme (offering unrivalled guest access to industry policy-makers) facilitates critical peer-to-peer best practice discussions.

We have developed and deliver the UK’s only professionally-recognised qualification in our industry, the Chartered Governance Institute’s Certificate in Employee Share Plans. We now have 1,000+ alumni.

We were invited to a Buckingham Palace reception with the King, to recognise small businesses that have contributed to the UK economy. This year, we have also won the following awards showcasing our continued recognition in the industry: Global Executive Share Plans Law Firm of the Year in England 2023 by Corporate INTL; Employee Incentives Advisor of the Year by SME News Legal Awards 2023, and Compliance Consulting Law Firm of the Year (UK) by the International Elite 100 Awards 2023.

Culture
Tapestry has shown that it is possible to establish a firm where lawyers get to work with some of the world’s biggest clients, and lead on stimulating and challenging work, in a more sustainable way.

Our EOT structure shows our commitment to the principles of inclusion and diversity, and we can show a tangible positive impact on how we demonstrate that commitment. Traditional law firm structures have indirectly discriminated against those who take a career break or work part-time, often preventing them from holding Partner status. We’re proud that our business structure allows for everyone in the team to have the opportunity to be an owner in the business, from the most senior lawyers to support staff.

Great value and great service
As a specialist firm, our clients have access to experienced lawyers and our rates are significantly less than the big firms; providing all-round better value and quality than many of the City-based firms.

Training
We provide the UK’s only professional qualification in our industry, the Certificate in Employee Share Plans (accredited by the Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland). As well as teaching the technicalities and providing attendees with a solid knowledge foundation, our unique offering shares market knowledge and best practice. The course is run annually in two parts with an exam after each part. With over 1000 alumni in total and up to 100 participants each year, the course also has supported career development for many in the industry.

“presented by a highly knowledgeable team, helping to unravel the complex world of share plans.”
(Tom Goodman, GSK)

“Brilliant course led by experts with a wealth of share plans knowledge to tap into.”
(Alex Couter, Smith & Nephew)

“Overall, probably the best training course I have been on, thank you Tapestry.”
(Georgia Derbyshire, Abcam)

Technology
Our use of technology to provide additional legal services has always been a key strength of the firm. We continue to develop OnTap, our innovative online database providing legal and tax information in 150 countries. This specialist service helps companies manage their share plan compliance, keeping them up-to-date with regulatory changes. Our database is the strongest product of its type in the market, and we continue to win subscribers from competing providers.

“OnTap is an excellent resource! The information available and the ease of navigation make it an obvious choice for us to keep a handle on the legal and tax compliance of our global plans”.
(Elena Petrou, Aviva)

Value-add initiatives
We run a programme of regular virtual roundtables and webinars to enable clients to discuss topics such as current issues clients are facing and global developments. This programme expanded and moved virtually during the Pandemic. It was very well received, so we have continued to run the events, in particular to facilitate the open discussion of timely topics between senior industry players. Some in-person events have returned, but we are now using the technological learning and tools we gained during our pandemic response to increase the clients we can reach, in a hybrid, more sustainable way. Most recently, guest speakers have included the Head of Institutional Voting Information Service (IVIS), who was able to share insights and take questions on the expectations of the UK’s biggest institutional investors on UK plcs. The opportunity to hear from and engage with such influential people in our industry is unique and would not be easily accessed elsewhere.

Addressing key topics in our e-alerts such as investor reactions and guidance, key developments in certain sectors and the global ever-changing local legal and tax regulations, we have also shared our knowledge with our community through LinkedIn and other online industry forums, making them available for all.

[We] “have been enjoying the updates and webinars - Tapestry pretty much always first out of the gate!”
(Jane Richards, Hastings Insurance)

Diversity
Tapestry has always been proud to boast of a majority female workforce, with women comprising a majority of senior positions in the firm. The firm is a champion of diversity: currently, over 60% of staff at all levels are female; the wider leadership team is majority female and includes disabled and LGBTQ+ members; a high proportion of our staff have a diverse educational and social background, including being the first generation in their family to attend university.

We have a modern and progressive approach to work and have always been committed to providing a stimulating and enjoyable environment for all our team members. We have applied agile working practices which represent a cultural shift from traditional firms.

It takes time to develop a fully diverse team. As a boutique firm we recognise that our people are the key to our business. In addition, the nature of our global work ensures we strive to understand and value cultural differences. As we continue to expand our business, our aim is to attract talented individuals regardless of their beliefs, background or lifestyle choices. No two people have the same flexible working pattern, we agree arrangements as needed by our colleagues.

Tapestry recently became a 100% employee-owned business. The formation of an employee ownership trust, which holds all the shares in Tapestry for the benefit of all Tapestry’s employees, ensures that everyone in the team can be an owner in the business. We are very proud of our new employee ownership structure – we are now ‘walking the walk’ in the area of employee share ownership! This new business structure puts us is a relatively unique position as an adviser to understand more personally the needs of our clients.

“Unilever’s vision is a truly diverse and inclusive workforce… We aim to promote gender balance and developing an inclusive culture by respecting the contribution of all employees regardless of gender, age, race, disability or sexual orientation. As one of the signatories of the General Counsel Diversity & Inclusion Statement of Support…we’re happy to work with Tapestry who embrace a culture where agile working is available for women and men to have a healthy work/life balance whilst also providing great and cost-efficient legal advice when we need it.” (Unilever)