A Cardiff headquartered business advisory firm has announced it will be opening a new office in Oxford.
Greenaway Scott, which was set up in 2013 by leading corporate lawyer, Nigel Greenaway, will be opening an office at The Milton Park Innovation Centre in Oxford, a well-established hub for fast track technology businesses.
The expansion is part of the firm’s plans to develop its offering across the UK, advising businesses in the technology and life sciences sectors.
As part of the expansion, Greenaway Scott will be making several strategic appointments and has instructed Cardiff-based headhunting firm Goodson Thomas to assist with the recruitment drive.
New positions in Oxford will include a head of corporate finance with transaction experience, a head of commercial contracts, who will need to be dual qualified with a science or maths degree, as well as legal qualifications, and an additional assistant solicitor.
The Oxford office is being opened as a result of traction and clients in the area, including ISIS Innovations, the spin-out engine of the University of Oxford, one of the leading universities in the UK for commercialising and developing new technologies and products.
To date, links have already been established with key institutions, related fund managers and private equity houses in and around the Oxford area and the firm has worked with a number of businesses, including the University of Oxford spin-outs, Inside Tracs and Designer Carbon Materials.
Designer Carbon Materials was commercialised from Oxford University with Greenaway Scott leading the legal team, and is a business that creates the world’s most expensive material – endohedral fullerenes, spherical carbon molecules containing nitrogen atoms, which sell for £100million a gram.
Inside Tracs is the most recent spin-out from the University advised by Greenaway Scott in November 2015, engaged with the development of a novel indoor positional system for smart devices.
Nigel Greenaway, corporate director at Greenaway Scott said “Opening an office in Oxford is a natural progression for us as we have already established great links and clients in the area, which will help us develop our business in our niche areas of technology and life sciences.
“Oxford is a starting point for our continued growth and the next phase for the company. We see Oxford as the first step towards replicating our Cardiff model in a number of cities in the UK and achieving our wider expansion plans.
“The Oxford office will also drive revenue through Cardiff as the administration team and infrastructure will continue to operate from Cardiff.
“Maintaining our head office at The Maltings in Cardiff is a priority for us but we are looking forward to the new opportunities that will come from the new office.”
In 2015, Greenaway Scott also announced that it would be expanding into new offices at The Maltings in Cardiff due to increase demand for its services. As part of the expansion, Greenaway Scott will be looking to recruit an additional four employees and will have space in the new office for up to 40 members of staff.
Greenaway Scott provide corporate, commercial and intellectual property advice to companies, with particular sector specialisms in the life science, technology, pharmaceutical and IT sectors. The commercial team is made up of solicitors who are dual-qualified and have either a mathematics or science degree as well as legal qualifications to ensure all advisors have a strong understanding of their clients’ markets.
The firm focuses on the provision of sharp, practical, commercially focused legal advice to businesses and advises clients on spin-outs and commercialisation, brand and intellectual property protection, commercial contracts and trading agreements, mergers and acquisitions and equity investments.
