Business Support Services. A guide to our offering

Transcription

1 A guide to our offering

2 We have extensive experience advising clients based in the UK and overseas in relation to the buying and selling of business support services. These are often vital to the successful operation of their businesses. Both buyers and sellers from a diverse range of sectors instruct us to put in place short and long term contractual arrangements for business critical services. Travers Smith 01

3 Experience The depth of our experience and the breadth of our expertise across different practice areas, gives us a significant advantage when compared with other firms. Complex transactions in this sector rarely fit into neat boxes and often require an integrated understanding of a number of legal issues. We place great emphasis on developing longstanding relationships and an in-depth knowledge of our clients businesses so that the advice we give is tailored to the needs of each client. However complex the matter, we always focus on providing practical, succinct and commercial advice. Our team is led by Tom Purton. The team is fully integrated with the broader offering of the entire firm. We regularly advise clients in this sector on: employment and immigration, M&A, capital markets, debt finance, tax (in particular VAT), litigation, real estate, as well as their commercial contracts and associated areas of specialist expertise. The standalone commercial team at Travers Smith LLP is... very client focused, reliable and a pleasure to work with, it handles the full spectrum of outsourcing and procurement, manufacturing and distribution, and joint venture work. Legal Travers Smith 03

4 The team at Travers Smith provided legal, strategic and tactical guidance in shaping a critical outsourcing deal for our business with complex commercial and pricing risks and very sensitive HR issues we are very grateful to them. Jonathan Neame, Chief Executive, Shepherd Neame 04 Travers Smith 05

5 We have worked with Travers Smith for a number of years and have always been impressed with the quality of advice and the manner in which it is presented. They have invaluable experience of the business support services sector and bring the necessary gravitas to every situation. Simon Dighton, CFO, 1st Credit Services Acting for both buyers and sellers of business support services means that we are very well placed to understand and advise on the key issues from both sides of the table. Support Services Provider ( seller ) Distribution/ logistics Recruitment/ personnel Consultancy/ advisory Payroll/ administration Information technology Facilities/supply management Public relations/ advertising Support Services Recipient ( buyer ) 06 Travers Smith 07

6 Buyer side experience We have extensive experience advising buyers of business support services, including: The thing that impresses me about Tom Purton is the knowledge he has of our business he finds issues that are both legal and commercial. Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession Metro Bank Metro Bank, the first new UK retail bank for over a century, on its outsourcing and procurement arrangements (including business process, IT and network infrastructure outsourcing) Tyrrells Tyrrells Potato Crisps on its distribution arrangements in France to French Food Village, a leading French distributor of snack food Shepherd Neame Shepherd Neame, the UK s oldest independent brewer, on the brewing, packaging, marketing and distribution of Asahi super dry lager and Kingfisher lager for the UK market Moto Moto on its agreement with BP to supply fuel to Moto s 48 motoring service areas in the UK Pret A Manger Pret A Manger on the renegotiation of its contractual arrangements with Veriphone to provide chip and pin machines and accompanying software to all stores TSL Education TSL Education, publishers of the Times Educational Supplement, on its magazine distribution arrangements with Associated Newspapers International Energy Group International Energy Group, a leading natural gas and LPG distribution and supply business, on the cloud outsourcing of its customer billing function Brewin Dolphin Brewin Dolphin, one of the UK s largest private client investment managers, in relation to the IT outsourcing of its entire front and back office systems Caffè Nero Caffè Nero on the outsourcing of its food distribution/logistics arrangements for all of its 400+ UK stores to Food Partners McColl s McColl s, the UK s largest independent neighbourhood retailer, on the renegotiation of its business-critical supply and distribution arrangements with NISA and Palmer & Harvey Channel 4 Channel 4 on the outsourcing of all facilities management functions (including cleaning, front of house, landscaping, maintenance, security and waste services) at its flagship Victoria headquarters 08 Travers Smith 09

7 I have done similar deals with Travers Smith s competitors and I have to say that all too often it has been a painful experience. Travers Smith s commercial approach in getting the deal done made a refreshing change. Senior Legal Counsel, Kuehne + Nagel Ltd 10 Travers Smith 11

8 Seller side experience We have extensive experience of advising providers of business support services, including: The team is praised by clients for its outstandingly good performance. Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession Digica Digica, a leading specialist in IT infrastructure management and application services, on the sale to Computacenter UK Innovation Group The Innovation Group plc, the global provider of insurance software solutions and business process services, on its acquisition of LAS Claims Management Limited NFT Distribution NFT Distribution, the UK s market leader in chilled distribution, on the renegotiation of its outsourcing arrangements with Sainsbury s and Asda Macquarie Bank Macquarie Bank on its contractual arrangements with British Gas to enable/finance the purchase and installation of both smart and traditional meters on a national basis in the UK Robert Walters Robert Walters, a global specialist recruitment consultancy, on a number of contentious employment matters Firstsource Firstsource, a major international BPO provider, on its provision of outsourced customer services to Barclaycard Hays Hays, a global specialist recruitment group, on the principal employment issues arising during an outsourcing, including drafting suggested clauses and TUPE-related provisions for Hays outsourcing agreements Ambition Ambition, a global boutique recruitment firm, to whom we provide a helpline service on Data Transfer Agreements relating to transporting candidate and client data outside of the EEA and associated data protection issues in their terms and conditions of employment 1st Credit 1st Credit, the leading debt collection and purchaser business in the UK, on the outsourcing to it by a major American private equity fund of the acquisition and servicing of distressed debt portfolios Epicor Epicor on its takeover of NSB Retail Systems plc, a provider of software for the retail market Charterhouse Print Management Charterhouse Print Management on its outsourcing portfolio, including corporate clients such as Coca-Cola, Shell, BMW, Sony, Unilever, Burger King and Renault Safestore Safestore, the UK s largest selfstorage business, on the outsourcing of the management and operation of the SpaceMaker self-storage business to Safestore SSP SSP, on the negotiation and implementation of its franchise operations including WHSmith, M&S Simply Food and Starbucks food outlets in railway stations and airports throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East 3i Group 3i Group on the sale of Civica, an international market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services for the public sector 12 Travers Smith 13

9 Team We believe that a key differentiator for us is the structure, quality and nature of our teams. We have the correct level of partner involvement, not just occasionally, but continuously and guarantee the right balance between supervision, guidance and cost-effectiveness. We want and expect to help our clients identify the business critical issues arising out of the relevant business support service and find effective legal solutions to them, and ensure that our teams work closely with one another, so that we are able to provide a co-ordinated and seamless service. Business Support Service work is handled by a dedicated team led by Tom Purton, who has extensive knowledge and experience of this area. Tom is rated by the Legal Directories as one of the leading commercial lawyers in the UK and is described as an excellent adviser, and extremely competent as well as a pleasure to work with. Tom Purton Commercial, IP & Technology Partner +44 (0) tom.purton@traverssmith.com Richard Spedding Corporate Partner +44 (0) richard.spedding@traverssmith.com Dan Reavill Commercial, IP & Technology Partner +44 (0) dan.reavill@traverssmith.com Julian Bass Real Estate Partner +44 (0) julian.bass@traverssmith.com Richard Brown Commercial, IP & Technology Partner +44 (0) richard.brown@traverssmith.com Richard Stratton Tax Partner +44 (0) richard.stratton@traverssmith.com Tim Gilbert Employment Partner +44 (0) tim.gilbert@traverssmith.com Jan-Jaap Baer Litigation Partner +44 (0) jan-jaap.baer@traverssmith.com All of the Travers Smith lawyers I have been fortunate to deal with are consistently of the highest calibre, but particularly in terms of their responsiveness, their depth of understanding of a client s needs and their ability to apply creative solutions to complex challenges. Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession 14 Travers Smith 15

10 Travers Smith We are an award-winning, full service law firm focused on providing high quality, pragmatic advice on English law. Our approach: Partner led, consistent teams Sound commercial advice delivered by high calibre lawyers Extensive market knowledge and experience Sector focus across each practice area Why Travers Smith: Ranked Top City Firm in the Legal Week client satisfaction survey High quality service and exceptional efficiency At least 50% of our work has a multi-jurisdictional aspect and we regularly advise on international transactions of all sizes Disclaimer Travers Smith LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales under number OC and is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The word partner is used to refer to a member of Travers Smith LLP. A list of the members of Travers Smith LLP is open to inspection at our registered office and principal place of business: 10 Snow Hill, London, EC1A 2AL. We are not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but we are able, in certain circumstances, to offer a limited range of investment services because we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide. The information and expressions of opinion in this brochure are not intended to be a comprehensive study, nor to provide legal advice, and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice concerning individual situations. Real Estate Tax Banking Commercial, IP & Technology Pensions Competition Litigation Corporate Investment Funds Corporate Recovery Financial Services & Markets Environment & Operational Regulatory Employment Employee Incentives 16

11 Travers Smith LLP 10 Snow Hill London EC1A 2AL T: +44 (0) F: +44 (0)