Equity Capital Markets Associate / Senior Associate

The Role

Gateley Legal is looking for a high-performing, driven and ambitious Equity Capital Markets Associate or Senior Associate who thrives on transactional work and seeks to advance within a dynamic and supportive team. We are keen to find someone eager to contribute significantly to the growth and development of Gateley Legal’s Equity Capital Markets team in the Midlands and beyond. By working closely with our passionate senior leadership team and esteemed Partners, Paul Cliff and Sam Meiklejohn, you will be encouraged to make an impact in the local market and inspire our junior corporate lawyers. Alongside Paul and Sam, the wider ECM team also includes Martin Montgomery (Partner, London), Nigel Brown (Partner, Manchester) and Hannah Hogarth (Associate, London).

Further information on the equity capital markets team profiles can be found here: https://gateleyplc.com/services/equity-capital-markets/

This role will be based in our Birmingham office (offering hybrid working).

Due to our consecutive successes and increasing instructions to work on interesting, complex, and high-value equity capital markets transactions, our national corporate team is looking to expand with a view to hiring someone with the potential to become a senior member of the team in the future.

You will handle a diverse workload encompassing equity capital markets and public companies, public M&A and corporate governance across various sectors such as manufacturing, life sciences, construction, retail, technology, healthcare, financial services, real estate, recruitment, training and education. Additionally, you will gain significant cross-border transactional experience, including transatlantic, pan-European, and across the MENA region. Prior cross-border transactional experience is helpful, but not essential.

You will also advise corporates, investment banks, brokers, and major shareholders on a wide range of capital markets matters, including primary and secondary securities offerings listed on both UK and international stock exchanges.

Experience in managing transactions is essential as we encourage associates to take ownership of matters as well as work closely with a partner on more complex and / or high value work.

A keenness to network and build your own connections in the local ECM and wider corporate ecosystem would be highly encouraged and supported at all levels.

With a client-centric ethos and a 200-year history of providing commercial advice to businesses, the Gateley Legal corporate team believes in punching above its weight. Clients choose us and come back to us for our dynamism, entrepreneurial spirit and practical approach. We intend to continue to grow our practice through internal and external promotions to grow the skill set of our partner group, expand our client base and strengthen our presence in the Birmingham market and beyond.

Gateley also offer a comprehensive training programme, technical support via its corporate PSL team (including a substantial, well-maintained, precedent bank), structured career development (including a business development coaching programme for future partners) and a transparent promotion process to support you as you thrive in an ambitious and fast-growing professional services business.

The Equity Capital Markets team

As an AIM Listed business – Gateley (Holdings) Plc listed in 2015, the first commercial law firm in the UK to do so – we understand the challenges and regulatory responsibilities that listed businesses need to navigate. We have substantial experience of advising corporates and advisers on initial public offerings, entitlement offers, equity subscriptions, rights issues, private placements, block trades and buy-backs.

Clients include companies from the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Asia across a variety of industry sectors. This breadth of expertise helps us better understand and communicate the issues arising on a flotation to provide a tailored service to our clients. The team’s extensive relationships within the advisory community in the City of London assist in the smooth delivery of our service. Our clients are on both the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and on AIM. We have more AIM experience than most national and regional law firms.

We act for many of the leading nominated advisers and brokers advising in the AIM and Main Market of the LSE, and so we are well-placed to provide balanced and experienced advice on all aspects of the IPO process.

Some of our key clients that we have recently worked with include:

• Franchise Brands Plc
• Likewise Group Plc
• Inspired Plc
• Investec
• Shore Capital
• Allenby Capital
• Dowgate Capital

Further detail on the corporate team’s deal insights can be found here: https://gateleyplc.com/insight/deal-alerts/

The national Corporate team

Our Corporate team continues to thrive and with an impressive client list it is the perfect home for ambitious corporate lawyers to develop their career.

With a team of over 90 corporate lawyers nationally, we advise clients on all types of corporate activity across the UK and regularly advice on transactions with an international angle.

Our Corporate team has been recognised nationally including:

• Changemaker – Beth Mather Gateley Corporate National Unit Head 2023 (Business Desk West Mids Rainmaker Awards 2023)
• Small Cap (up to £15m) deal of the year – Gateley Legal (Business Desk West Mids Rainmaker Awards 2023)
• Private Equity Exit deal of the year – Gateley Legal (Business Desk West Mids Rainmaker Awards 2023)

  We consistently act as trusted advisers for clients in sectors as diverse as manufacturing, life sciences, construction, retail, technology, healthcare, financial services, real estate, recruitment, training and education.

  Some of our key clients that we have recently worked with include:

• Gymshark LDC
• Palatine Private Equity
• Limerston Capital Connection
• Capital North Edge
• Clowes Developments (UK) LTD
• Franchise Brands PLC
• YFM Equity Partners
• BGF

Further detail on the corporate team’s deal insights can be found here: https://gateleyplc.com/insight/deal-alerts/

The structure of our highly accomplished national team enables us to offer a partner led approach on every transaction. In the Birmingham team, you will join an established team of Partners, Senior Associates, Associates, Solicitors, Trainees and Paralegals that all work collaboratively across the Corporate Unit.

The corporate team provide a nurturing and supportive environment and there is an opportunity for genuine partnership progression aspirations. Several of our successfully promoted partners either completed their training with Gateley or joined at junior levels of their career. There is a clear progression path for all levels of lawyers to succeed to reach their career goals.

The Person

• The successful candidate must be at least 4 years' PQE with experience of a broad range of equity capital markets and public M&A experience.
• As an associate or senior associate, you will be expected to take responsibility for mentoring junior members of the team.
• You must be able to demonstrate high-quality technical legal skills and the confidence to offer commercial advice in a well-reasoned and competent manner.
• You will have the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with existing clients alongside actively engaging in new business development opportunities and cross-selling services within Gateley.
• You must demonstrate an ability and willingness to learn and possess strong commercial acumen and good negotiation skills.
• We are looking for someone who is personable, enthusiastic and with a drive to succeed in a collaborative and collegiate environment.

The benefits
With support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around our great development and progression opportunities will reward your commitment and loyalty. We offer a competitive remuneration package where you'll be rewarded for your individual performance with an opportunity to receive an annual bonus.

In addition, we have a wide range of learning and development opportunities via our Learn platform to develop new skills and progress your career. Our My Flex comprehensive rewards package includes options covering annual leave (and the benefit of purchasing extra days), cycle to work, critical illness benefit, employee assistance programme, group personal pension, health care, season ticket loan and many more benefits (grade dependent). Finally, with Perks At Work/Home you can select a host of retail benefits that suit your needs alongside a Community Online Academy, free courses for all from fitness to coding to languages to hip hop dance.

We are Gateley
We are forward thinking and straight talking, our approach is to find solutions to the problems that our clients face. Gateley is a legal and professional services group, we are a group of formidable experts in all areas of law and business. Passionate problem solvers, we get our kicks from finding the right answers and getting our legal and business clients where they need to be. We support more than 5,700 active clients, ranging from FTSE 100 companies to private individuals, in the UK and beyond. Being part of Gateley is not just about the expertise that you bring; it's about attitude too.

The 'Gateley Story' is the story of our people and our culture. It is what has got us to where we are today as a successful business and it's the driving force behind the Gateley Team Spirit and the values that have shaped it. We have a set of shared internal values that capture what the Gateley Team Spirit is and this includes five elements that bind us all together as one Gateley: Ambitious for Success, Forward Thinking, Room to Breathe, Trusted to Do and Working Together. Every year across the group, we recognise members of our team that have gone and above and beyond and have lived these shared values. They are recognised at our annual Gateley Team Spirit awards.

Diversity, inclusion and well being
Diversity, inclusion and well-being is an important part of Gateley's culture and values. We recruit talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, providing equal opportunities for all to join our team regardless of age, sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, or culture.

We create an exciting and rewarding place to work that aims to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals. We offer flexible working patterns to help our staff achieve a good work/ life balance and we encourage candidates seeking flexibility in their next role to apply for any of our vacancies.
We are proud to have been recognised by The Law Society as gold standard for our Diversity and Inclusion Charter and to be Stonewall Diversity Champions.

Additional Information
If you are successful in receiving an offer of a role with our company a variety of pre-employment screening checks will be completed. Our screening checks can include but are not limited to your eligibility to work, professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records, your financial stability, and references from previous employers. The screening that takes place will be relevant to your role and will vary from role to role.