Maidenhead: Gardner Leader appoints new partner to capitalise on growing business community

Award-winning solicitors Gardner Leader has recruited again, appointing the highly-acclaimed corporate lawyer, Diane Yarrow, as partner.

Yarrow brings 14 years' experience in corporate and commercial law. She joins Gardner Leader's growing team in Maidenhead and will add further strength and depth to the firm's seven-strong corporate and commercial team based in Newbury, Thatcham and Maidenhead.

Part of her role will be to assist Richard Buckeridge, partner and head of the Maidenhead office, in growing the firm's commercial team and services in line with the needs of the local business community, which is thriving thanks to mass regeneration projects such as Crossrail.  

Her arrival comes just months after the appointment of Catherine Wilson, finance director, and Hilary Messer, a legal 'Hot 100’ highly-experienced litigation lawyer. Gardner Leader has around 100 staff including 14 partners and achieved 50% increase in revenue between 2012 and 2015 following its continuous expansion across Berkshire. 

Prior to Gardner Leader, Yarrow was a partner in the team awarded 'Best Regional Team in 2015' by Legal 500 UK at a major law firm in Buckinghamshire.

She has considerable experience in helping businesses to manage risk, support expansion and diversify, covering a broad range of corporate and commercial matters, including commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, business start-ups, restructuring, shareholder arrangements and exit, banking and re-financing projects, compliance and risk management, company secretarial and joint ventures.

Yarrow has acted for privately-owned businesses and as outsourced UK legal counsel for multi-national organisations, and has a particular specialism in supporting third-sector organisations and has worked in-house for the 2010 London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. She was also ranked by Chambers UK 2015 as a band one (one being the best) environment lawyer for her notable expertise in the waste, energy and renewable sector, described by the independent directory as being 'held in high regard by her clients.'

Yarrow puts her advice into practice when acting as a board member of Leap, the Bucks & MK County Sports Partnership, a not-for-profit organisation and one of 49 County Sports Partnerships nation-wide, that form a key element of the delivery system for sport across England.