Squire Patton Boggs welcomes Tom Durrant, the former national head of Gateley’s Corporate practice, as the new managing partner of its Birmingham office. Mr. Durrant, who arrives today, succeeds Charlie Frost, who will become general counsel for the firm’s UK LLP from 1 May 2023.
The move marks a return to Squire Patton Boggs for Mr. Durrant, who qualified at the firm over 20 years ago. A highly regarded corporate M&A and private equity lawyer, Mr. Durrant will play a key role in the ongoing expansion of the firm’s UK and international cross-border corporate and private equity transactional work.
“I am excited to return to Squire Patton Boggs, a global law firm with a strong regional heritage and a collaborative, dynamic and entrepreneurial culture,” commented Mr. Durrant. “The firm has an impressive pedigree in the Midlands and has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years. I am looking forward to working with new and familiar colleagues on the next phase of the firm’s growth and development as one of the region’s premier practices.”
Jonathan Jones, European managing partner, said: “Charlie has led the Birmingham office with distinction, and I would like to thank him for all that he has done in the role. The office has achieved its best-ever performance to date this year, and we have ambitious plans to continue on this growth trajectory.”
“I have been proud to serve as managing partner in Birmingham. To lead such a talented team that has achieved so much in the region, and as an integral office within our global network, has been a privilege,” added Mr. Frost. “Tom’s track record in leadership and business development will be extremely valuable in helping to position our office for its next stage of growth and we are delighted to welcome him on board.”
Midlands Corporate partner Geoff Perry said: “Tom is a respected and talented private equity lawyer, well known to our team and within the corporate market. His arrival comes on the back of increased client demand and we have ambitious plans to continue to grow the team in the coming year.”
Mr. Durrant joins one of the fastest growing and most successful Corporate Practices in the Midlands. Over the past year, the team has led over 30 deals out of the Birmingham office with a value of £1.5 billion and, working alongside colleagues from Squire Patton Boggs’ other UK offices, has been involved in transactions totaling over £4 billion.
Mr. Durrant is an experienced corporate lawyer focused on cross-border acquisitions and disposals, private equity and venture capital transactions. He advises international and UK corporates, financial institutions, management teams and entrepreneurs across a wide variety of industry sectors. His work with private equity extends across the whole life-cycle of support for portfolio companies from initial investment to exit. His recent work highlights include advising NorthEdge on its investment in Correla, an energy technology and data business serving the UK gas industry; advising the management team of Brush Group, the East Midlands headquartered manufacturer of turbogenerators, transformers, and switchgears, on the company’s acquisition by One Equity Partners, the New York mid-market private equity firm, Melrose plc; and advising Connection Capital, an alternative investment specialist organization focused on high-net-worth individuals and family offices, on both its original investment in Tempcover (an insur-tech business focused on the temporary and flexible insurance market) in 2017 and its exit in March 2022.
A graduate of Liverpool University and the College of Law, Chester, Mr. Durrant qualified at Edge Ellison in 1998 and became a partner at Gateley in 2008, subsequently becoming head of Gateley’s national Corporate team in 2015. He is recognised as a leading corporate lawyer in both The Legal 500 UK and Chambers & Partners (UK).