England - North West • Public sector
Mills & Reeve LLP
Mills & Reeve LLP’s education practice provides a wide offering to education sector clients with expertise in governance, research legislation and regulation, campus redevelopment and student accommodation projects. The multidisciplinary team is led by Manchester-based Sara Barrett who is particularly experienced in employment matters, and Richard Skyes who splits his time between Manchester and Birmingham. His work includes litigation, liability and compliance issues, as well as equality legislation, data protection and freedom of information issues. Associate Siân Jones-Davies, previously at Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP, bolstered the practice with her arrival in October 2022, bringing expertise at the intersection of education, public law and regulatory matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Mills & Reeve have pooled their resources very effectively utilising specialist knowledge within the firm to address some challenging legal issues on my projects, whilst maintaining continuity with my main contacts.’
‘Emily Revel and Jennifer Lewis have both been excellent as my main contacts dealing with many varied legal issues.’
‘The team are incredibly helpful and very knowledgeable. They understand the university sector and take the time to understand individual institutions which enables them to advise appropriately. Mills and Reeve also have an Education Hub which contains a wealth of useful information for institutions.’
‘Paul Knight is exceptional at what he does and provides clear, concise and easily digestible advice.’
‘Mills and Reeve are able to cover all of our Education needs with expertise across all areas.’
‘The individuals we work with at Mills and Reeve are always personable, knowledgeable and flexible. Sara Barrett is our lead partner and we have worked a lot with Miriam Guilding too.’
‘Good sector knowledge. Experienced, skilled and approachable team who provide focused commercially sound advice.’
‘The practice has the skills, knowledge and expertise within the education sector and within the building and construction discipline. The team understands our aims and objectives and also understands the dynamic and the structure of our governance.’
Key clients
- Academies Enterprise Trust
- Anglia Ruskin University Higher Education Corporation
- Arden University Limited
- Birmingham City University
- Bolton College
- Bournemouth University
- British Council
- Buckingham New University
- Cardiff University
- Christ Church, Oxford University
- Christ’s Hospital
- Coventry University
- Dragon School Trust Limited
- Exeter College Oxford
- Francis Crick Institute Ltd
- Harrow School
- King’s College London
- Linacre College Oxford
- London Business School
- LTE Group
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- Merton College Oxford
- Nottingham Trent University
- Oxford Brookes University
- Oxford University Endowment Management
- Peterhouse College, Cambridge
- Royal Veterinary College
- Sheffield Hallam University
- Solent University
- St Dunstan's Educational Foundation
- St Edmund Hall Oxford
- St John’s College, Oxford
- St John's College
- The Institution of Engineering and Technology
- The United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation
- The University of Birmingham
- The University of Northampton
- The University of Nottingham
- TOF Corporate Trustee Limited as Trustee of The Oxford Funds
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- University of Cambridge
- University of Bath
- University of Bedfordshire
- University of Derby
- University of East Anglia
- University of Exeter
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Kent
- University of Lancaster
- University of Liverpool
- University of London
- University of Manchester
- University of Oxford
- University of Salford
- University of Southampton
- University of Surrey
- University of Worcester
- University of York
- Wellcome Sanger Institute
- West Thames College
- University of York
Work highlights
- Acted for the University of Lancaster on a £60 million sustainability-linked revolving credit facility with Santander UK PLC.
- Acting for Manchester Metropolitan University in respect of the proposed redevelopment of All Saints Square.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Richard Sykes, Sara Barrett