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Turner Parkinson’s senior partner, Nick Davenport, was last night elected Vice President of the Manchester Law Society.
The appointment supports the Society’s commitment to provide an innovative and lively local Law Society in Manchester, which reflects the city’s position as Britain’s second city and boasts the strongest commercial centre outside London.
Davenport, who was previously Honoury Treasurer for the Society, commented on his appointment saying: “Manchester Law Society is focused on promoting the legal profession across the Manchester region. It is a strong and vibrant community, and I am delighted to be elected the role of Vice President.
“Our focus over the next 12 months will be to develop a top-drawer legal education programme, deliver seminars, networking and social events for lawyers and other professionals, and provide the public with access to the best legal advice in the city. We are kicking off the year with our first ever Manchester Legal Awards dinner in March, which will play host to more than 450 top lawyers in the region. It will give the profession a chance to celebrate its successes over the course of the last year; something we should all do more often.”
Fran Eccles-Bech, Executive Director at Manchester Law Society, said: “I am delighted that Nick has become Vice President. His energy, enthusiasm and commitment whilst he has been Honorary Treasurer have been exceptional and I know that he will bring the same vitality and focus to his new role.”
Nick Davenport and Fran Eccles-Bech
Manchester law firm Turner Parkinson LLP has been crowned ‘Corporate Law Firm of the Year’ at the North West Insider Dealmaker Awards just weeks after winning ‘Marketing & Business Development Campaign’ and being runner up in the ‘Innovation in Practice’ category at the Managing Partners Forum 2009 European Practice Management Awards in London.
The success of the 12 partner firm has ruffled a few feathers in the professional community, fighting off competition in both ceremonies from some of Europe’s largest and most successful professional firms.
Playing a large part in the award wins was Turner Parkinson’s innovative new website, www.tpdeals.co.uk, which was launched last year to help encourage deal flow in the north west by listing businesses for sale and business acquisitions, as well as businesses that have gone into administration and distressed assets. The judging panel at the MPF awards described TP Deals as ‘a great example of a practical revenue creating campaign which has also helped reposition the firm amongst some off the larger accountancy and insolvency players in the north west’.
The prestigious North West Insider Dealmakers Awards, which was held at Manchester Central with more than 700 people in attendance, is a real barometer of strength of the corporate finance and professional community in the north west. The firm was shortlisted for Corporate Law Firm of the Year alongside Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Piper, Cobbetts and Eversheds. Senior partner Nick Davenport was also shortlisted for Dealmaker of the Year, which was awarded to KPMG.
Nick Davenport, senior partner, said: “We were absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted. We did not even consider the possibility of winning so it was a complete shock to us and, no doubt, to a large number of professionals in the audience.”
It was the firm’s hard work and foresight with the TP Deals website that earned them a place on the stage. The new online service, which was set up as a ‘lonely hearts column’ for business buyers and sellers, was noted by Insider’s editor as ‘an example of innovation in the current cold climate’.
Davenport continues: “We set up TP Deals with the simple aim of encouraging deal flow in the north west. Without doubt the transactional market has been tough over the last 12–18 months; business owners have struggled to get a good valuation for their business, buyers have often demanded even lower prices, and the uncertainty of the market has created a real lack of confidence. However this doesn’t mean there aren’t deals to be done. The website has proved that there is still a healthy appetite for small to mid-sized deals at the right price. And the award win for us, proves that it pays off to push your boundaries and strive for excellence in innovation.”
The North West Insider Dealmaker Awards were decided by popular vote, and not by a panel of judges. Michael Taylor, editor of Insider, said: “No one can win just by being a nice guy, they have to have earned the respect and professional credibility by doing deals and adding value to their clients.
“[TP Deals] is a grand idea, and you have to take your hat off to Turner Parkinson for having the foresight to do something different to the market moving.”
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