
Nick Bell has left Royal Bank of Scotland to join Squire Patton Boggs as a financial services partner.
Bell served as a director and head of the transaction management team, specialising in real estate and housing finance, at Royal Bank of Scotland.
He has 18 years of experience advising on acquisition finance and cross-border corporate transactions, refinancing and restructurings.
He has expertise in property investment and development finance, and has advised on various private finance initiative projects for schools, hospitals and infrastructure. He has also advised on more than £300 million of NHS LIFT projects, setting up primary care centres across the UK.
Prior to joining Royal Bank of Scotland in 2016, Bell established and led the banking and finance practices of two law firms, Lupton Fawcett in Yorkshire and Ward Hadaway, where he launched the firm’s North of England practice across Leeds and Manchester.
Paula Laird, Europe, the Middle East and Africa head of the global financial services practice group at Squire Patton Boggs, said: “Nick has unique experience having previously worked as a partner in private practice, as well as in-house with Royal Bank of Scotland, so he brings a wealth of insight from both sides of the table.”
“Nick’s real estate finance expertise, as well as his experience in acquisition finance, compliments that of our financial services practice group in the UK and internationally across our global platform.”
“We are very pleased to welcome Nick to the firm,” commented Leeds office managing partner John Alderton. “Nick is dynamic and well regarded, with excellent business relationships within the major financial institutions and a wider borrower base, which will be important to us as we continue to develop our practice. Working alongside partner Tom Telford, he will add strength in depth to our established team.”
Bell’s appointment follows that of Jason Blakey, DWF’s former head of litigation in Leeds, who joined Squire Patton Boggs earlier this year.