
Womble Bond Dickinson has appointed partner Simon Pilling as the new head of its Leeds office.
Pilling (pictured) joined Womble Bond Dickinson in 2015 and has led the growth of the Leeds corporate practice, particularly in the private equity space.
Born in Yorkshire, Pilling is a well-known dealmaker in the region with almost 30 years of experience as a corporate transactional lawyer. He has significant and varied experience advising on a broad range of transactions.
His team advises many regional, national and international clients on high-profile, high-value transactions. Recent deals include advising LDC on the creation of a new national lettings and estate agency group in a £100 million transaction to merge Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson; advising private equity firm Nimbus on its investment into the Yorkshire manufacturing business Hawthorn Timber; and acting for Cairngorm Capital on its majority investment in Bromborough Paints.
Pilling takes over the role of office head from real estate partner Mark Owen, who held the position for nearly 10 years.
He commented: “Since our entry into the Leeds legal market in 2012, Mark has successfully led the growth of our Yorkshire practice to become one of the top firms in the region.”
“Whilst Mark is retiring from the partnership, he will remain with us as senior counsel and will continue in his role in Womble Bond Dickinson’s real estate team leading the firm’s relationship with a number of key clients and advising on strategic land acquisitions.”
“Under Mark’s leadership, the office has become central to the wider Womble Bond Dickinson success story. We have created a great team supporting a fantastic range of local, national and international clients that provide our lawyers with many opportunities to work on exciting projects across a range of different sectors and geographies.”
“That growth has been achieved through a combination of excellent lateral hires and internal partner promotions, with the last few months alone seeing the recruitment of Kathryn Wood from Knights (formerly Shulmans in Leeds) into our residential real estate team and the promotion of Sam Dixon and Vicky McCombe as new partners in the restructuring and construction teams respectively.”
Pilling continued: “I’m thrilled to take on this important office head role within the firm and look forward to working with all my colleagues to continue to build on our strong regional profile and to ensure that our business plays its part in unlocking the tremendous potential that exist for businesses across the region and beyond.”