Legal advice that Tees firms can bank on
Muckle’s banking and restructuring team is helping Tees firms meet their finance and fundraising needs.
Teesside’s expanding business community is driven by a mix of traditional industries such as engineering and manufacturing, and newer, emerging sectors including AI, green energy and digital healthcare. Despite their diversity, all of these sectors have one common challenge: they need finance to grow, create jobs and boost the local economy.
Louise Duffy, partner and head of the banking and restructuring team, says: “Teesside’s business community is thriving, and we are seeing more and more companies tap into our expertise to support their financial growth.”
Although headquartered in Newcastle, Muckle has had a long-standing presence on Teesside. Most recently, the firm was appointed to the legal panel for the £20 million Teesside Flexible Investment Fund, which aims to boost economic development across Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, Hartlepool and Stockton.
Louise explains: “We work with many financial institutions in the region, which range from banks and private equity houses to corporate clients and individuals. However, we also provide funding for companies operating in other sectors, including property development and investment, hospitality and leisure. This breadth of experience enables us to provide a bespoke service tailored to our clients’ needs to facilitate growth.”
Trusted adviser
One of the clients that our team has helped scale over the years is Wilton Universal Group. We have supported Wilton with several transactions, with one of the most significant being the acquisition of the Haverton Hill facility in Stockton. This saw the addition of 58 acres to the company’s Port Clarence base, paving the way for significant growth and the creation of 200 jobs.
Muckle advised Wilton on the purchase of the premises and machinery and all associated funding and tenancy arrangements. Working closely with other advisors, the team advised on key areas such as priority arrangements, and grant and loan funding.
Louise is proud of the project and the working relationship with our client: “It was an enjoyable project to work on, and we received such positive feedback from the Wilton team, particularly on our ability to provide key strategic advice in a very short timeframe. We’re continuing to support the business with its ongoing strategic property and funding needs.”
Louise is keen to stress that it’s not just larger businesses that can benefit from Muckle’s support: “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small start-up or a large established company; when it comes to financial legal advice, we can help. We’re recognised for being responsive, approachable and getting transactions done quickly. These attributes, along with the team’s in-depth understanding of the Teesside landscape and exceptional technical knowledge, are key reasons why clients of all sizes and industries keep coming back to us.”
Specialist insolvency advice
Alongside its strong banking and finance offering, the team is also uniquely positioned to advise clients from a restructuring and insolvency perspective. The team benefits from the expertise of insolvency specialist Kelly Jordan, who rejoined Muckle in 2024 to advise companies, banks and other lenders on a wide range of insolvency and restructuring issues. Kelly has over 20 years of experience in insolvency law, and is also the North East chair of R3, the UK's insolvency and restructuring trade body.
Louise says: “Kelly specialises in non-contentious advisory and transactional work, such as advising lenders on the validity and enforceability of their security and acting on numerous pre-pack administrations. She also advises directors on their duties if their business runs into trouble and is at risk of insolvency. All of this adds even more value to our banking team’s offering.”
Growing to meet clients’ needs
Following Kelly’s reappointment, the banking and restructuring team was further bolstered by the recruitment of newly qualified banking solicitor Lauryn Hellewell in July. Originally from Darlington, Lauryn was part of the first cohort to study at Northumbria University through the North East Solicitor Apprenticeship (NESA) scheme, which combines traditional study with on-the-job training over six years.
Louise is confident that these appointments together with the recent recruitment of real estate partner Rachel List, who supports the firm’s real estate finance offering in Teesside, have further strengthened the team’s influence in Teesside: “Now we’re in an even stronger position to advise companies on their financial needs, whether that’s raising funds for their future growth or offering fast, proactive advice to businesses facing financial difficulties, creditor clients facing customer insolvency or companies acquiring distressed businesses.”
“The team has good approachability, the ability to explain complex legal documents in layman's terms. There are never any issues with being able to make contact, and they are always quick to respond. We always felt we were made a priority.”
Legal 500 UK, client quote
Full-service support
Louise knows that the team can draw on expertise across the firm to help achieve clients’ goals: “We don’t operate in isolation. For example, we work with our real estate team on property finance transactions – as we did with Wilton – and with our corporate team on private equity investments, disposals and acquisitions and listed company work.”
“We’re fully committed to growing our presence in Teesside and continuing our philosophy of being a trusted advisor that acts as an extension of our clients’ teams. Maintaining high levels of service is really important to us and we’ll continue to deliver what our clients want, on time and within budget.”