South: Shoosmiths' corporate team wins two national awards

Law firm Shoosmiths is celebrating after its corporate team won two prestigious national UK awards in just 24 hours for its work in the venture capital sector.

Shoosmiths was named Best EIS / SEIS Tax Adviser 2018 at the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Association Awards at the House of Lords. This reflects the growing recognition of Shoosmiths’ tax team as one of the UK’s top specialist advisers at the technical cutting edge of EIS and Seed (SEIS) law. Shoosmiths’ tax team, led by partner Tom Wilde, has advised on over 80 EIS investments in the past 12 months.

The EISA Awards celebrate outstanding performance by firms, advisers, individuals and journalists in the context of the EIS and SEIS schemes during 2018. The EISA is the official trade body for the UK’s Enterprise Investment Scheme which encourages investment in UK venture capital and growth business.

The EISA noted the firm’s ‘excellent examples’ of work that ‘highlighted how this firm are thought leaders in this space’ and how ‘it is clear that they engage and provide significant assistance across the board from investee companies to fund providers and advisers’.

In a separate awards ceremony 24 hours earlier, Shoosmiths was also named winner of the  Corporate and Commercial firm (Specialism) of the year (Venture Capital)award at The Legal 500 UK Awards. The Legal 500 remarked on the firm’s ‘excellent service' to investor-focused clients, from early stage investment to late stage funding and how it was praised for its ‘customer focus and sound advice’.

Partner Alastair Peet, who leads Shoosmiths’ VC team, said: “These awards underline Shoosmiths’ growing reputation with venture capital investors and the start-up and scale-up communities in the UK’s thriving tech sector.

 “Post-Brexit, the focus on start-ups in the UK will only intensify – not just in London, but also in the wider regions - and there is clearly something about Shoosmiths’ approach to venture capital work, and specifically our ability to combine outstanding technical legal advice with commercial thinking, which is in tune with the way the sector is developing in the UK.

“We have bold plans to grow our VC work, as part of Shoosmiths’ strategy to grow corporate work, not only in the UK but also overseas, as global investors increasingly look towards the UK for tech innovation and creativity.”

Thames Valley-based partner Tom Wilde, who heads Shoosmiths’ tax team, said: “Winning both awards showcases the strength and depth of our national venture capital team. We have a unique offering of being able to offer high-quality EIS, VCT and corporate advice all under one roof. That combined with a brilliant team of talented people working for clients across the UK, means we are now a real force to be reckoned with in the VC market.”