In what has been another great year for South West law firm Stephens Scown, with a series of awards shortlistings and national recognition, comes news that the firm has again been listed in the South West Dealmakers Awards.
Insider Media’s landmark South West Dealmakers Awards is being held in the centre of Bristol, celebrating its 20th anniversary. It’s firmly established as a key highlight of the professional services and corporate finance calendar in the region.
Having previously achieved success at the event, Stephens Scown is this year nominated for Law Firm of the Year, Small Deal of the Year (sub £10m), and Environmental, Social, and Governance Deal of the Year. The latter two awards celebrate the work done by the Corporate Team in saving Paignton and Newquay Zoos.
Giles Dunning, M&A specialist and joint head of the firm’s Corporate team with Laurie Trounce, said of the nominations, “Being shortlisted in these categories is a clear demonstration of the outstanding work being done by the team, who have worked tirelessly to deliver for our clients, advising on transactions that shape the South West economy, supporting founder exits, safeguarding regional institutions and enabling sustainable long‑term growth across key sectors including employee ownership, leisure and tourism, healthcare, transport, construction, financial services and energy.”
The work of the Corporate Team over the last year has been one of sustained growth and advising on a high volume of complex, high‑value transactions across its core sectors, reinforcing its position as a leading adviser to strategically important South West businesses.
The team advised on multiple mergers and acquisitions, share sales, corporate reorganisations, project finance matters and succession‑driven transitions, many within tightly regulated sectors and delivered under compressed timetables.
Appearing in both the Small Deal category and ESG Deal of the Year, work to save Paignton and Newquay Zoos from closure helped safeguard their futures for animals and humans alike. The sale would involve land owned by Wild Planet Trust, (WPT) a charity and the ultimate owner of the zoos, as well as the business and assets of its subsidiaries, South West Environmental Parks Limited (SWEPL) as the charity responsible for both sites plus South West Zoo Enterprises Limited (SWZEL) which carried out the revenue generating operations of the establishments.
Andrew Knox who heads up the Insolvency and Restructuring team led the work, with invaluable assistance from Laurie Trounce who contributed her specialist expertise in the charity sector alongside Olivia Miller. Tim Walmsley in the Real Estate team advised on all the property aspects plus Alice Kamara in the Corporate team who supported with coordination of paperwork throughout the sale process.
Both Paignton and Newquay Zoos are important and historic parts of the Torbay and Cornwall social, tourist, commercial and cultural communities. Moreover, both are important centres of zoological and animal research. As just one of many examples, Paignton Zoo was the lead involved in work to save the critically endangered Mauritius Pink Pigeon. Both zoos were also heavily involved with local schools and colleges plus Plymouth University ran a Masters course at the zoo.
Andrew commented: “Saving Paignton and Newquay zoos has been hugely important to protect local jobs, the animals, and for the local economies. We’re proud to have played our part in ensuring they can be enjoyed for generations to come, and to see the impact of that work being rewarded in this way is hugely gratifying.
“Closure would have been devastating for their respective local areas. Over 250 people were employed directly by the trust with countless others involved in the support businesses within the immediate environment.”