Birmingham: As part of our strategic commitment to better serve our Midlands client base, we are opening an office in Birmingham.
Joining the office is housing corporate and governance Partner Gemma Bell from Penningtons Manches Cooper, together with three other lawyers specialising in advising on corporate, regulatory and governance issues. We expect to add further lawyers across multiple disciplines to the office, which is located on Temple Street in the heart of the city.
We have three other offices in the UK in the City of London, Colchester and Leeds.
Gemma joins our growing banking, governance and corporate team, which has recently welcomed Matthew Waters from Bevan Brittan and Helen Curtis from Gannons, where they were both Partners.
Gemma is considered a ‘go to’ lawyer for social housing governance advice and was a contributor to the National Housing Federation’s latest version of Model Rules, the sector’s most widely used constitutional document. Prior to Penningtons, Gemma worked at Anthony Collins Solicitors.
Gemma specialises in advising housing associations on large and frequently innovative corporate projects including mergers and acquisitions, group consolidations, joint ventures, de-mergers and stock transfers. She provides governance and strategic advice for social enterprises, housing associations, local authorities and charities and regularly delivers governance training to third sector organisations. With significant experience in incorporating a variety of legal structures, she acts on charitable conversions and on establishing and collapsing group structures.
Also joining from Penningtons into the new Birmingham office is senior Solicitor Rose Klemperer, who is also the co-founder and co-chair of Women in Social Housing Midlands (WISH Midlands), a membership-based organisation for women working in social housing, and Solicitors Ellen Damlica and Sharon Thandi.
Andrew Cowan, Partner and head of social housing says: “The whole firm is thrilled to welcome Gemma and her team to Devonshires. Gemma’s reputation speaks for itself, and her work perfectly complements that of our firm as social housing leaders. It will also enable us to better serve our clients outside London.
“On behalf of the whole team at Devonshires, I offer Gemma, Rose, Ellen and Sharon a warm welcome. I am sure they will make a significant contribution to the firm both locally and nationally.”
Gemma Bell says: “Devonshires is the market-leading firm for social housing, so I am honoured to be able to spearhead their opening in Birmingham. There’s a real synergy with the work of my team and that of Devonshires. All four of us are really excited by what we can achieve working alongside Devonshires’ excellent team and with the power of such a strong national brand behind us.”
The new office address is: Somerset House, 37 Temple Street, Birmingham B2 5DP.
