Commercial contracts expert Paul Armstrong has signed up for a new career challenge with North East law firm Hay & Kilner.
Paul has joined the Newcastle-headquartered firm’s corporate and commercial team after spending a decade with the in-house legal team at Virgin Money in Gosforth, where he worked on a range of commercial contracts and corporate projects.
He brings two decades’ experience to his new role and has a particular interest in IT and intellectual property issues.
Having left the North East to study at Bristol University, Paul worked in London before returning to the region in 2004 and working with two Newcastle practices over the following six years before moving to Virgin Money.
Alongside his legal expertise, Paul also holds the Chartered Governance Institute’s Chartered Company Secretary qualification.
He says: “I enjoyed the work I was doing at Virgin Money, but wanted to get properly back into the North East legal community with an established firm that had the potential for further growth in its corporate and commercial work with businesses of all sizes.
“Hay & Kilner’s technical and commercial reputation was very impressive, and I’d also heard great things about the firm’s culture, which coming from somewhere like Virgin Money was a very important factor for me.
“Hay & Kilner is at an exciting juncture in its development, and having the corporate and commercial teams working as one enables us to provide a joined up, first class service to our clients and provides a lot of opportunities for further developing what we offer.”
Established in 1946, Hay & Kilner is one of North East England’s leading independent law firms and provides a full range of legal services to businesses and individuals from both within and outside the region.
The firm’s corporate & commercial team was recognised in the most recent edition of legal industry ‘bible’ The Legal 500 as ‘the go-to firm for a variety of owner-managed businesses and regional SMEs in the care home, pharmaceutical and veterinary sectors, in addition to a number of corporates.’
Jonathan Waters, managing partner at Hay & Kilner, adds: “We’re expanding the range and volume of corporate and commercial work that we undertake, and recruiting Paul will enable us to build further momentum in this area.
“He is a highly-experienced practitioner, both from a legal point of view and in terms of the commercial activities with which he’s been involved, and is a significant addition to an already-impressive team.”