Member Article

gunnercooke expands pensions team with 30 new client wins and two award nominations

Leading challenger law firm gunnercooke has expanded its pensions team to seven, winning 30 new clients and growing revenue by 20% in the past year.

The UK Pensions Awards 2021 have also nominated the firm in the Pensions Lawyers of the Year and Independent Trustee of the Year categories.

Partners Helen Miles and Parminder Latimer joined gunnercooke in 2020, making the team one of the 20 largest dedicated pensions teams in the UK, with seven partners. Adam Bushby, Suresh Bhatt, Ginevra Gatrell, Martin Scott and Wyn Derbyshire also make up the department.

The new appointments have led to winning a significant number of new clients, bringing the total to over 100. Key wins include the Chartered Management Institute, Methodist Church and London Metal Exchange.

The firm advised on schemes worth over £1bn in 2020, acting on a range of pensions matters including public sector developments, education, and Master Trusts. The team also work alongside traditional law firms on a range of complex and niche pensions issues.

Work last year included the defence of an individual against the imposition of a contribution notice for £3.6m by the Pensions Regulator, securing £89.2m of pensioner liabilities for the £140m Brockhampton Pension scheme, and advising trustees of the Hitachi Systems Retirement Benefits Scheme on the equalisation of guaranteed minimum pensions.

The firm also has an independent trustee company, gcTrustees, which is led by Bhatt, Bushby and Latimer and sees the Partners acting as trustees of pension schemes across the country.

Partner Ginevra Gatrell, said: “We’re thrilled to be recognised by the UK Pensions Awards this year. We’ve seen significant growth in our team, welcoming two experienced partners, winning 30 new clients and increasing revenue. We are now one of the largest dedicated pensions teams in the UK and between us, can act on all manner of pensions work for with a range of businesses, schemes and law firms.”

gunnercooke is a full-service commercial professional services firm, founded to change the way legal services are delivered to clients and how lawyers balance their lives. The firm’s innovative model sees partners with a minimum 10,000 hours practicing experience becoming trusted advisers to their clients, providing certainty of price and delivering the best quality advice.

The firm has also expanded into several specialist groups offering professional services, including gunnercooke Associates, management consultancy gunnercooke Coaching, gunnercooke Private Equity, and a charity group connecting business leaders with small charities, the gunnercooke foundation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Short .