
Tapestry Compliance — England
View the full Tapestry Compliance profile
About
Tapestry is a multi-award-winning boutique law firm specialising in global executive and employee share schemes and incentives. We offer excellent legal service to clients whilst maintaining our ethos of agile working and value for money. We provide insight-driven global solutions, and leading UK technical expertise. Whilst always up against large City firms, the strength and quality of our offering means we continue to enjoy substantial growth, both in team size and client roster. Our clients have access to specialist, experienced, lawyers for significantly less; providing all-round better service. Since 2011, employee ownership has been at the heart of what we do. - Our work We have built a reputation as a challenger firm, going head-to-head with the biggest firms in London and around the world because we offer unmatched expertise, pragmaticism, creative technology solutions, and a commitment to cost-effectiveness. We are the year-in, year-out trusted adviser on global incentive arrangements, fostering long-term relationships and repeat instructions on plan implementation, documentation and legal/tax compliance, working alongside our clients annually as their trusted adviser. We handle complex mandates from prominent clients including Coca-Cola Europe, IAG and Unilever, including advising on the impact of transactions and corporate actions on incentive plans. We advise many banks, insurers and asset managers including Aviva, HSBC and Morgan Stanley on a range of remuneration and regulatory topics. - Our clients We are trusted advisors to some of the world's leading companies, providing services to 65% of the current FTSE 100, and as of the date of writing, 50% of the FTSE10! What makes us particularly proud is that our clients stick with us - more than 40% of our clients have been with us for over 5 years, seeing the value we bring and the relationships we build. Both our UK and international practice have continued to grow, with the number of active clients increasing by 15% in 2024. - Our team We are the largest team of incentives lawyers in any UK law firm. Our Partner-equivalents (Hannah Needle, Chris Fallon and Suzannah Crookes) lead the team, providing a wealth of industry expertise. We have an impressive senior bench of notable lawyers, all with individual specialisms: Paul Abthorpe, Sally Blanchflower, Sarah Bruce, Matthew Hunter, Emma Parker, Lorna Parkin and Carla Walsham (who re-joined Tapestry in 2024). - Our industry Tapestry’s senior bench has strong activity and involvement in all the major industry organisations (GEO, ProShare, SPLG, NASPP), holding more senior positions in those organisations than any other UK law firm. They are frequently asked to present at high-profile events. This year, Tapestry was a founding sponsor of, and contributor to, GEO’s pioneering Global Share Plan Rankings Study which is being used to support local advocacy and government lobbying, increasing the profile of employee share schemes and incentives globally. - Value-add initiatives We host a variety of webinars which regularly attract 100+ attendees, and a roundtable programme offering unrivalled guest access to industry policy-makers, facilitating critical peer-to-peer best practice discussions. We provide email alerts and updates on our LinkedIn network, reporting on breaking industry news and global updates, summarising the key development and providing a perspective from our Tapestry lawyers. - Global compliance Our market-leading online database of legal and tax compliance information, OnTap, is a key part of our business. We stand apart from competitor database providers as our lawyers are also providing a majority market share of the related legal advisory work on the relevant topics, meaning our database content is continuously updated to reflect our experience of issues, solutions and market practice. We have maintained this approach over the last year, and have accelerated the development of a wider range of content to reflect changing workplace practices and an increasingly mobile workforce, including new inputs on unlisted company issues and analysis for non-employees. To enhance functionality for client subscribers, we have improved the format of our downloadable reports this year, and have simplified the choices made when selecting report content. Tapestry helps clients develop a sensible approach to global share scheme and incentives compliance using our OnTap database to help manage risk and budgets. We offer: - Information on 160+ countries Different types of reports: feasibility, detailed legal and tax, employee tax notes, payroll guides - Information on tax beneficial treatment - 24/7 access at your fingertips All maintained by our extensive, hand-picked global network and Tapestry’s experienced lawyers. - Training We provide the UK’s only professional qualification in our industry, the Certificate in Employee Share Plans (accredited by the Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland). As well as teaching the technicalities and providing attendees with a solid knowledge foundation, our unique offering shares market knowledge and best practice. The course is run annually in two parts with an exam after each part. With over 1000 alumni in total and up to 100 participants each year, the course also has supported career development for many in the industry. “This course is extremely helpful to understand the complex world of UK share plans. The course is well organised and the speakers really bring share plans to life and have shared some helpful best practice guidance on the operation of share plans for students to take away with them to implement into internal processes!” - Hammerson Plc “Blown away by the exceptional quality of the Tapestry team, delivery of the course and the materials. Well done!” - BP “I have to say this has hands down been one of the best courses I've attended. The notes are beautifully prepared and very easy to follow. The speakers are highly knowledgeable and the support and encouragement has been excellent! Highly recommend!” - RS Group “The course offers a great range of topics that affect all aspects of share plans, which makes it a great choice for both those managing and administering share plans within companies but also external administrators too. The content is delivered by experts in their fields, in an engaging and interactive way which helps create a fantastic environment for learning.” - HWC ### Staffing Figures - 4 Number of UK partners - 20 Number of other UK fee-earners
Office locations
London
London
Tapestry Compliance The Stanley Building 7 Pancras Square London N1C 4AG
Sheffield
Sheffield
Tapestry Compliance 5&6 Sellers Wheel 151 Arundel Street Sheffield S1 2NU Yorkshire
Leeds
Leeds
Tapestry Compliance 1 Aire Street Leeds LS1 4PR Yorkshire
Practice areas
Lawyers in this office
Bob Grayson
Bob has spent his career advising on the global aspects of employee incentive arrangements. His work has included plan rule drafting, communications materials, trust and hedging arrangements, nominee arrangements and all other legal aspects of incentive plans from initial design to post-vesting dealing arrangements. As a leading expert on global compliance for incentives, first at Linklaters, then in-house at Shell, he brings immense practical experience in dealing with the legal documents and global compliance issues from a business perspective. Since transitioning his shares in Tapestry to the Employee Ownership Trust, Bob continues to work closely with the team as a consultant (Partner equivalent) and remains widely-respected by the industry for his wealth of knowledge and commercial approach, now focussing his efforts on Tapestry’s hugely successful target market in Japan. · Employee Share Schemes
Carla Walsham
*Carla has been previously recognised by Legal 500 as a Rising Star, prior to a few years out from Tapestry, working at Deloitte and having her second child.* Carla is a Senior Associate whose primary focus is with global companies, helping them to navigate the various complexities they face when designing, implementing, and operating their share plans internationally. Carla has experience working with many large listed companies advising on executive and all-employee share plans. Global advice includes the impact of corporate transactions on global employee share plans. Carla is known for her commercial and pragmatic approach supported by deep technical and market knowledge. Carla is a lead on a number of our large global clients such as Carnival and RS Group and plays a key role in client relationships with Unilever, AkzoNobel and Entain. Carla regularly presents at many industry events and launched a new Reward Up North industry group earlier in 2024. Carla is a member of three ProShare Focus Groups and has been on the UK Global Equity Organisation Committee. Carla also teaches on Tapestry’s Certificate in Employee Share Plans course. · Employee Share Plans
Chris Fallon
Chris is a Legal Director (Partner equivalent) and is Tapestry’s “UK Counsel”, both internally and externally. Chris has over 20 years of experience working with top-ranked legal and incentives teams delivering UK and global plan design and implementation. Chris is widely-recognised for his substantial expertise in incentive matters for all business types. He can draw upon a deep range of experience when providing practical and proactive, solution-driven advice on discretionary executive plans, corporate governance and remuneration disclosures, as well as advising on broader employment related tax issues. He also has significant expertise in dealing with Employee Benefit Trusts and private equity-owned businesses. Chris’s clients include London Stock Exchange Group, CMC Markets, Entain and Sage, as well as Vertical Aerospace and Spirax Sarco. Chris regularly presents at many industry events including those run by industry body ProShare, sharing his expert knowledge with the market, and is a member of the ProShare Advisory Board. He has also assisted ProShare with successfully lobbying HMRC and the government on various industry issues, including discussions around how the UK Government’s recent tax changes will impact share plans affecting the wider workforce. Chris has recently been invited by representatives of the Japanese Government to assist their awareness and understanding of the UK’s incentive framework and global practice to help improve the equivalent regulatory framework in Japan and increase the use and effectiveness of incentives in that country. Chris’s role as Tapestry Board Director for the Employee Ownership Trust gives him invaluable practical experience of structuring employee-focussed solutions, from within. Chris is severely sight impaired (blind) and is a member of The Society of Visually Impaired Lawyers. · Employee Share Schemes & Incentives
Emma Parker
*Emma is recognised as an Associate to Watch in Chambers&Partners* Emma is a Senior Associate who has particular expertise advising on UK corporate governance issues for large listed plcs, as well as advising in relation to tax-advantaged plans (both in the UK and overseas). Emma advises some of Tapestry’s biggest clients on the design, establishment, communication and strategic operation of employee share plans, plan rule drafting, and reviewing the legal and tax aspects of plan awards. Emma’s clients include Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Costa, Howdens and Hays Group. Emma is one of the senior teachers on Tapestry’s accredited Cert. ESP course (having previously led on the implementation of a successful online version of the course during the pandemic), and regularly speaks at the ProShare conference and at other industry events (e.g. on ProShare’s Intro to ESO course). Emma also holds the role of employee trustee director of the Employee Ownership Trust for Tapestry and leads Tapestry’s internal training programme. · Employee Share Schemes
Hannah Needle
Hannah is a Legal Director (Partner equivalent) and advises many leading global companies on the implementation and operation of all forms of global executive and employee share and incentive plans, including the design and establishment of new plans, global compliance, managing grants and maturities under existing plans and on technical tax and legal matters. She also advises on the impact of corporate transactions that may affect a company's global incentive arrangements. In recent years, Hannah has been instrumental in liaising with the UK’s tax authority (HMRC) regarding various important clearances which have enabled clients to deliver significant tax efficiencies. She leads on the work we do for clients such as TP ICAP, Tesco, Rentokil Initial, Unilever and Schroders. Hannah has been recognised as a ‘Best Lawyer in the UK’ for Employee Share Schemes for the last 2 years running. Inclusion in ‘Best Lawyers’ is based on a rigorous peer review and symbolises excellence in practice. Hannah has been appointed to the Practical Law Share Schemes & Incentives Consultation Board, which brings thought leadership to Practical Law's offering in this area. Hannah is closely involved in the Global Equity Organization (GEO). She has been granted fellowship status, which recognises her as an industry-leading professional, and serves on GEO's Board of Directors, where she has just recently been appointed to the Executive Committee. Hannah is the Co-Chair of the Share Plan Lawyers’ (SPL) Corporate and Regulatory Committee and leads a number of the Committee’s working groups, including leading the SPL response to the FCA PISCES consultation and leading the industry discussions with the FCA and HM Treasury on changes to the market abuse regulations in the UK, post-Brexit. This year, working alongside GEO’s Executive Director, Hannah has been instrumental in rolling out the inaugural year of GEO’s brand new Future Leaders Programme, which is aimed at helping develop emerging leaders in the industry (see: www.globalequity.org/future-leaders). Hannah is a sought after speaker at international conferences and events, including 2 events for Employee Ownership Australia, in Melbourne and Sydney, in November 2024 (see here). Hannah sits on Tapestry’s Board of Directors under the Employee Ownership Trust structure. · Employee Share Schemes
Lorna Parkin
Lorna is a Senior Associate with particular expertise in advising global companies and banks, and has experience in advising on all aspects of executive and employee incentive matters. This includes global and UK employee share plans and executive remuneration. Lorna has a broad corporate and commercial background and offers practical, commercial advice. Lorna is a lead on a number of our large global clients such as Rolls-Royce, Volvo, Dell and TripAdvisor and plays a key role in client relationships with Morgan Stanley. Lorna is recognised as a Recommended Lawyer by Legal 500 and was recognised in 2024 as ‘One to Watch in the UK’ in ‘Best Lawyers’. Inclusion in ‘Best Lawyers’ is based on a rigorous peer review and symbolises excellence in practice. She regularly presents at many industry events and is a member of the ProShare Global Focus Group. Lorna also sits on the Board of Directors of Tapestry under the Employee Ownership Trust structure, using her wealth of experience for the benefit of the firm. · Employee Share Plans
Matthew Hunter
Matthew is a Senior Associate with broad experience in advising clients on all aspects of their global incentive arrangements. Matthew advises leading multinational companies across a broad range of sectors on the design, implementation and ongoing legal and tax compliance for their global executive and all-employee share, fund and cash-based incentive arrangements, including companies such as Ascendis Pharma, Comcast, Legal & General, Lucid Motors, Morgan Stanley and Schroders. Matthew also has particular expertise in advising companies that are subject to financial services remuneration regulations and leads Tapestry’s work in that sector. He advises a number of the world’s leading global banks and asset managers in relation to their remuneration structures. Matthew regularly presents at industry events in Europe and the US. Matthew co-chairs the ProShare Financial Services Focus Group and is co-secretary to the Share Plan Lawyers Corporate and Regulatory Committee. · Employee Share Schemes and Incentives
Paul Abthorpe
Paul is a Senior Associate and has a broad range of experience supporting listed and private businesses on their executive and all-employee incentive arrangements, both in the UK and internationally. He advises in relation to the design, implementation and operation of incentives taking into account tax, legal and governance requirements. He has in-depth experience of supporting fast growth tech companies in relation to their incentive arrangements, including as they prepare for a sale or IPO. He is also a senior member of the team that focusses on our very successful target Japanese market, having a number of Japanese clients. Paul trained and qualified with international law firm Pinsent Masons before spending 8 years working in the Reward practice of PwC. He was also on in-house secondment at a FTSE 100 company where he was involved in the grant and vesting of share plan awards to a global employee population. Paul leads on clients such as Drax, HSBC and RELX. · Compensation & Benefits
Sally Blanchflower
*Sally is recognised as a Star Associate in Chambers&Partners* Sally is a Senior Associate who advises on all aspects of global and UK share plans for leading global companies and banks. Through the top FTSE and global clients that she works for, Sally has particular experience in market practice for executive and all-employee plans operating in a multitude of countries, and managing the legal and tax compliance of those plans. In particular, Sally has facilitated various design workshops to help her clients with the design, launch and implementation of new global plans from scratch, in a practical and effective way. Sally also works with clients on the corporate governance requirements for their executive remuneration and the reporting of incentive arrangements in their annual reports. Sally leads or plays a key role on many of Tapestry’s biggest clients including Unilever, AkzoNobel, Aviva, HSBC, International Airlines Group, Shopify and Dr. Martens. As well as regularly presenting at industry events, Sally sits on the ProShare Advisory Board and regularly leads the legal content for ProShare’s Global Focus Group. She leads our global webinar programme and delivery of our incredibly well-received client roundtables. Sally also holds the role of employee trustee director of the Employee Ownership Trust for Tapestry. · Compensation & Benefits
Sarah Bruce
Sarah is a Senior Associate with over 15 years of experience specialising in tax and share plans. Before joining Tapestry, she jointly headed the tax team at leading corporate firm Walker Morris. Sarah works with both UK and global clients on the implementation of UK and global incentive plans, and specialises in UK tax-advantaged share plans. She provides tax advice across a range of employment and corporate transactions and has particular experience advising privately-owned and PE/VC-backed businesses and in providing tax advice to management teams in the context of corporate transactions. Sarah’s clients include Nissan, Future, Leisure Resorts and eToro. Sarah joined Tapestry with a wealth of tax experience, having been previously ranked in the regional Chambers guide. · Tax
Tom Parker
Tom is a Managing Associate who advises on the legal, regulatory and tax aspects of implementing and operating incentive plans for executives and employees around the world. This includes tax-advantaged arrangements, global plans, corporate governance and reporting considerations, and the set up and ongoing operation of employee benefit trusts. Tom works with a number of UK-listed clients as well as global financial institutions and plays a key role in the work we do for TP ICAP, Aviva and GAM. Tom has presented at GEO conferences and is fundamental to our global webinar programme, regularly presenting on technical and market updates. Tom also teaches on Tapestry’s Certificate in Employee Share Plans Course, as well as ProShare’s Introduction to Employee Share Ownership course. · Employee Share Schemes