The Corporate Group at independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has advised Assent, a UK-wide Corporate Building Control Approved Inspector, on its acquisition of the Clarke Banks Group, a specialist fire engineering and building control Approved Inspector.
The acquisition marks another important milestone in Assent’s growth strategy and supports its expansion into fire safety services. It comes at a time when the industry is preparing for the most significant change in construction for over 40 years with the introduction of the Building Safety Regulator as part of the Building Safety Act.
Founded in 2013 by Samuel Wright and Adam Melrose, Clarke Banks operates across six locations in the UK including London and Birmingham. The leadership team will remain in post as the company continues to deliver high quality services to its customers and grow within the Assent Group.
The Burges Salmon team advising on the deal was led by Corporate partner Andrew Mills, assisted by senior associate Amy Carr and associate Chris Doherty. The Corporate Group was supported on finance aspects by partner Stuart McMillan and associates Emily Cranston and Luke Addison.
Andrew Mills comments: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Assent team again on the latest phase of Assent’s growth strategy.”
Iain Thomson, CEO of Assent adds: “Sam and Adam have built an incredibly successful business and we are delighted to be welcoming them to the Assent group. We’re grateful to Andrew and the whole team at Burges Salmon for their support and carefully thought-out guidance.”
Burges Salmon’s Corporate Group combines legal and transactional expertise with sector insight to give tailored solutions to clients. The team has a proven track record in corporate law matters, acting for a wide range of clients, from multi-national corporates and financial institutions to start-up businesses, partnerships, co-operative societies, high net worth individuals and investors.