Meet the Team

Solicitor – Qualified 1999

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Intellectual Property

Bio:

Ailsa is a highly experienced solicitor specialising in Intellectual Property (“IP”) and Commercial law and practice. Prior to entering the legal profession Ailsa, attained a BSc in microbiology then worked in environmental science, veterinary H&S and medical sales. Since qualifying as a solicitor, she has also attained a diploma in IP law and practice.

During her legal career Ailsa has worked in: private practice; patent and trade mark attorney offices; and in-house in the healthcare sector. Ailsa offers full practical legal support in all non-litigious commercial and intellectual property fields helping individuals and businesses manage and commercialise their assets as well as everyday business matters. Ailsa has carried out IP audits, a valuable tool for establishing and summarising a business’s IP and identifying ways to maximise the commerciality of that IP, on a wide variety of businesses.

Outside of work Ailsa is a keen gardener.

Governance and Compliance Practitioner

Bio:

Andrea is one of our highly skilled Governance and Compliance Practitioners. She previously trained and practised as a solicitor in London, working in several City law firms. Andrea’s specialist area while practising law was Corporate Finance.

Most recently, Andrea worked as in-house counsel for a hedge fund, where she carried out company secretary work as well as more general legal and compliance work. Andrea’s calm, patient and methodical nature is appreciated by all of her clients. She is immensely detail-oriented, while remaining calm and carrying out all tasks efficiently during sometimes high-pressure situations.

As a mother of 3 children, spare time is limited, but Andrea enjoys reading, the occasional exercise class and walking the dog for some peace!

Commercial Solicitor –  Qualified 2022

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Data Protection

Bio:
Bryony is a commercial solicitor at Haddletons. She acts for a wide range of commercial clients across various sectors, including SMEs/owner managed businesses. Her clients are based locally, nationally and internationally. Bryony carried out her training at Haddletons and is without doubt one of the most talented trainees we have worked with. Her highly practical and  straightforward approach is appreciated by our clients, whom she works closely with to achieve their objectives and to get them the best outcomes possible.

Outside of work Bryony enjoys going to the gym. Bryony is bilingual, speaks fluent Portuguese and loves visiting her family in the Algarve.

Trainee Solicitor

Bio:

Cameron is a Trainee Solicitor at Haddletons, having joined the firm at the beginning of 2023 to support our growing IP offering. He comes to us with over a year of experience at a boutique IP firm, where he handled a variety of trade mark matters, both contentious and non-contentious. As part of his training, Cameron is working closely with the commercial contracts team and assisting them with drafting, reviewing, and advising on a range of commercial contracts.

Cameron gained a distinction in his LPC/LLM in 2021 and has recently qualified as a Chartered Trade Mark Paralegal. He is due to qualify into the IP team as a solicitor at the end of this year, before he begins studying to become a Chartered Trade Mark Attorney in 2024. Cameron is recognised for his diligent and analytic approach, helping clients to navigate, understand and realise the full potential of their IP.

Outside of work Cameron is a keen linguist, learning languages such as Korean and Spanish. He is also an online gamer and likes to keep active by going on long hikes and walks.

Solicitor – Qualified 1984

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Disputes
• Employment

Bio:

Debbie has over 30 years’ experience as a trusted advisor and a solicitor working in-house and at several large, commercial law firms. She spent 4 years as head of a commercial legal team. Debbie deals with commercial disputes and employment issues. Her particular strengths include good relationships with her clients, empathy and people skills. She has experience of developing and delivering training for clients and lawyers covering complex legal issues in an accessible way.

Head of Business Growth

Bio:

Erica has over 25 years’ experience of working across a variety of industries; including financial, education and technology. She has a broad background in design, marketing, communications and IT.

In her role as Head of Business Growth at Haddletons she does pretty much exactly that. Looks at ways to grow our business – including building relationships with our clients and developing our communications – whether that is through the website, social media, digital print or simply by talking to people.

myHR Account Manager

Bio:

Francesca has worked in HR in one capacity or another for more than twenty years. She works as part of the myHR team here at Haddletons, liaising directly with clients on HR and employment matters, as well as working on larger projects helping businesses with their whole employer-employee strategy. Sally is all about supporting businesses to bring out the best in their staff. She believes all employees spend a lot of their time at work so they should be happy while they are working. And also that employees that are happy and feel appreciated will be far more productive.

Outside of work, Francesca spends time with her family and friends. She is a very sociable person and enjoy meals out, family gatherings and days out having fun. She is always looking into ways to be healthier, including the latest healthy eating programme, increasing exercise and looking after her mental health.

Head of Governance & Compliance

Bio:

George is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa, a registered Legal Practitioner in Zimbabwe, and an Associate of both the Corporate Governance Institute and the Chartered Institute of Business Management. He is currently undertaking the SRA exemption process for registration as a Solicitor in England and Wales.

George has over 25 years’ experience in Company Secretary and Legal Counsel positions, for Stock Exchange Listed mining and industrial corporations in Africa and the United Kingdom. He has also served as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair on several Boards of Directors, overseeing the implementation of practical governance frameworks for growth companies, prior to stock exchange listings, private equity and investment rounds.

George brings a wealth of legal, governance, company secretarial practice and general business knowledge to the Governance and Compliance Team.

Outside of work, George is a keen Equestrian, loves animals and spending time in the Great Yorkshire Outdoors! He enjoys eating out, travelling, and Spinning, Pilates and Yoga classes.

Solicitor

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Risk and Compliance

Bio:

From her experience as GC for Sanofi, Novartis and Head of Legal for Abbott EMEA, Helen has significant life sciences and compliance experience in legal risks associated with launch and exclusivities of medicines and their supply chain.

She also has a strong expertise in Product Lifecycle Contracts, digital marketing & apps for Pharmaceutical Products & Devices in Europe, and regulation & reimbursement of Orphan Indications & Medicines.

As a past member of a UK regulatory authority, she has first-hand experience of compliance & penalties for Promotion of Medicines & Devices and in risk management of online promotion.

Solicitor – Qualified 2004

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Corporate Advisory
• Data Protection
• Risk & Compliance

Bio:

Hugh is a Senior Commercial Solicitor with 14 years legal experience In House and in Private Practice. Having qualified with a top ten international law firm, Hugh has extensive experience in data protection, commercial contracts and corporate governance across a range of sectors including energy, entertainment, financial services and insurance. Hugh’s excellent legal skills are enhanced by his experience of income generation, strategy development and team management in a range of senior leadership roles since 2011.

CEO

Solicitor – Qualified 1994

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Data Protection & Cyber
• Risk and Compliance

Bio:

James worked for 25 years at two major commercial law firms and then as Group Legal Counsel and Company Secretary at an AIM-listed pharmaceutical company. There, he developed a legal team and led projects to reduce risk and improve the quality and efficiency of its contracting, governance and compliance systems.

James is CEO of Haddletons, as well as a senior lawyer.

James is also a non-executive director of iEthico.

myHR Advisor

Bio:

As well as being a highly experienced HR advisor, Jess is also a Yoga Teacher and qualified in Reiki Healing so her whole working life promotes health and wellbeing. Jess supports  businesses so they can encourage their people to be the best they can be.  As well as this, she has a background in recruitment so can support businesses in this area too!

Jess loves big cups of Yorkshire tea, dogs and in her spare time you will most likely find her taking long walks in nature, reading self help books, practising yoga/meditation or spending quality time with her friends and family!

myHR Advisor

Jess has many years of experience in HR. She started out working in Customer Service and retail roles, but HR has really been her forte and she loves how rewarding it can be. She enjoys in particular seeing businesses thriving through their own creativity.

Jess takes a creative approach to helping small and growing businesses build great workplace cultures. Haddletons myHR is all about building strong relationships and offering a personalised service, setting the service apart from a lot of other HR providers. It is one of the main reasons Jess loves working with her clients here.

On weekends, you’ll find Jess spending time with her dog, catching up with friends and family and most likely binge-watching the latest, most talked about Netflix series!

Solicitor – Qualified 1990

Chartered Tax Adviser

Legal Area of Expertise

• Tax Disputes

Bio:

Karen has 30 years experience of defending claims against professionals, mainly solicitors, accountants and tax advisers and has acted for firms from sole practitioners through to magic circle and global firms, gained at national market leading firms. She is also a Chartered Tax Adviser and has a national reputation in the taxation field. As well as acting in contentious tax matters across the whole range of taxes, Karen frequently advises professionals about risk management and is a published author on the topic as well as having passed the IRM exams.

Professional Advisor

Legal Area of Expertise

• Boardroom Support

Bio:

Keith, a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Director, is a successful senior executive with a wealth of experience in CEO, Executive Director, Interim and Non-Executive Director roles. The Institute of Directors UK Director of the year 2016, he has a proven history of vision, strategic foresight and strong governance that has enhanced board performance. Keith deploys his expertise to help your board develop and effectively manage the governance cycle, looking at aspects such as foresight, strategic thinking, supervising management and accountability to stakeholders. He will work with you to enhance board performance and make board meetings much more strategically focused.

Senior IP Solicitor

Bio:

Kirsten is an IP specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in both contentious and non-contentious IP. Kirsten trained and worked in London at Hammonds (now Squire Patton Boggs) and then moved to Sydney, where she qualified as an Australian solicitor.

Kirsten specialises in IP and that lends itself to working with a wide range of business in many different sectors. She advises clients on any area of IP (including trade marks, design, patents, copyright, trade secret and confidentiality) and her no-nonsense, practical and commercial approach to the law has been appreciated by all who work with her.

Most businesses own and or use IP but they often don’t realise its value, how to manage or protect it properly or how to commercialise it effectively. Kirsten is passionate about changing this for our clients!

Kirsten is actually originally from Denmark – which brings us to the pronunciation of her name ‘Kirsten’: ‘Kir’ rhymes with ear and ‘sten’ rhymes with pen. Lovely 😊

Outside of work Kirsten loves to spend time with her family and two sausage dogs, as well as to socialise with her friends.

Company Compliance Manager

Bio:

Lesley’s background is as a Legal Assistant in commercial law practices.  With over 20 years’ experience in the legal sector she has a deep and detailed understanding of what her clients need. Lesley’s particular areas of expertise have been predominantly in finance and restructuring but more recently she has been working on matters of professional negligence and risk management. Lesley maintains a high level of customer service to all her clients.

Financial Controller

Bio:

Mel has over 16 years’ experience of working in finance; including roles as Financial Controller and Management Accountant within a range of business sectors.

She is a natural number cruncher and loves an Excel Spreadsheet!

Mel is fundamental in budgeting, forecasting, strategy and risk analysis at Haddletons. She works closely with clients, consultants and the wider team for all things finance related.

Her pragmatic and calm approach to work and life make her a real strength in our busy team.

Solicitor – Qualified 1998

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Employment & HR

Bio:

Rowena is an employment solicitor with over 18 years experience gained at three large, commercial law firms and on secondment as part of an in-house employment legal team. Rowena provides commercially focused advice, representation and project support. She is an experienced presenter and has had a number of articles published in legal and industry journals.

myHR Account Manager

Bio:

Sally has worked in HR for over ten years, starting her career in London before moving to Harrogate to continue her passion for all things people related. Sally strongly believes there are lot of misconceptions about HR and that many business owners think it’s about policies and avoiding tribunals. And of course, that is part of it, but actually it’s about getting the best out of your people, building brilliant teams and retaining them.

Sally leads the myHR team here at Haddletons.  Her professional, personal and warm approach to HR is extremely popular with all our clients. She really does know her stuff!

Away from work, Sally is a keen actor, a TikTok whizz and Mum to her five year old son – all keeping her very busy and making her a true expert at managing work-life balance!

Solicitor – Qualified 2008

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• IP
• E-commerce

Bio:

Sarah is a highly experienced commercial lawyer with over ten years of experience in the legal industry. She has worked at some of the country’s best known commercial law firms and is well respected in her field. Sarah specialises in commercial contracts, IP, and e-commerce, advising a wide variety of clients in many sectors, ranging from fast-growth start-ups to global companies.

Sarah also ran her own business away from law and has a strong understanding of the issues that business owners face and what works commercially, rather than just legally.

Away from work, Sarah enjoys spending time outdoors with her three young children and long dog walks with her golden retriever.

Administrator

Bio:

Sarah brings with her 10 years’ experience in residential property as a sales negotiator, PA to the director and administrator. This experience has proved to be a great platform for her work at Haddletons. As well as providing a valuable range of services for our clients, Sarah supports with client take-on procedures and provides vital support to the legal team. It is Sarah’s extensive experience across various business sectors that drives her goal for optimal client service provision at Haddletons.

Team Administrator

Bio:

Sarah has over 20 years’ experience as an administrator, office manager and personal assistant. She has worked across a variety of business sectors and has hands on experience of the day-to-day running of both small and large businesses. Sarah is the team administrator at Haddletons, she is a key linchpin in the smooth running of our dynamic working environment.

Solicitor – Qualified 2003

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Property

Bio:

Shereen has over 15 years’ commercial property experience, having worked in both private practice and in-house. She advises on a wide range of commercial property transactions across a broad range of sectors. Shereen will work with you to deliver pragmatic, commercially viable solutions to all of your property needs.

Solicitor – Qualified 1980

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Corporate Advisory

Bio:

Simon is a highly respected and experienced corporate lawyer. Simon has advised on a wide range of UK and international corporate projects.

Simon’s work has included both IPO’s and secondary market equity issues as well as issues of convertible and non-convertible debt securities.

Moreover, Simon has extensive experience advising boards on corporate governance compliance as well as advising on relationships with major shareholders and on reacting to shareholder activism.

Operations & HR Manager

Bio:

Susie brings over 25 years’ experience of business and HR administration to the Haddletons team; having worked in both large and small organisations previously. Before joining Haddletons she worked in the public sector, the construction industry and the charity sector. She is highly organised and an adept problem solver.

Trainee Solicitor

Bio:

Tim is a trainee solicitor at Haddletons. He has over thirteen years of valuable experience, having worked in senior legal and compliance roles at both Asda and Lidl UK.

Tim is originally from the Netherlands, where he obtained a masters degree in oil and gas engineering. After his extensive time working in compliance, Tim then decided to turn his talents to the law, completing an LLB and then starting his training here at Haddletons.

Tim is extremely passionate about his work. He enjoys supporting our clients across diverse sectors with their business needs and finding solutions that work for them.

In addition to his native Dutch he is also fluent in English and German, and proficient in French.

He lives with his family in London, where his two young boys keep him very active outside of work.

Solicitor – Qualified 2001

Legal Areas of Expertise

• Commercial Contracts
• Corporate Law
• Data Privacy

Bio:

Yvonne is an experienced data privacy, corporate and commercial contracts lawyer. She has worked in-house,  in private practice and in academia. Yvonne has a pragmatic, client-focused approach to the law, and collaborates with clients to fully understand their commercial and legal needs.  She also has a passion for designing and delivering training both in corporate and academic environments, with a focus on training that is relevant, pragmatic and taught in an interactive and engaging way.