Managing and issuing shares seems simple. But as your business grows, things can get more complicated. We can smooth your dealings with shareholders and help you provide them with an appropriate package of rights in your company. Plus, we can help you unpick the complexities of tax-advantaged investment schemes and employee share plans to help you attract funding and talent.
Our team can assist you across all areas of corporate law, including:
Our team of accomplished corporate solicitors can advise you on:
Shareholders’ rights and what remedies your shareholders may be entitled to.
Share transfers and new allocations and ensuring that these are registered properly.
Documents that regulate your relationships with shareholders such as your Articles of Association and shareholders’ agreements.
Share capital reduction so you can create distributable reserves or as part of a demerger for example.
Creating different classes of shares
So that you can tailor your shareholdings to suit different types of shareholders and effectively manage the rights and restrictions of different shareholder classes.
Executing a share buyback process that works for your business, dealing with any pre-emption rights and drafting all necessary documentation.
How shares can form part of your employee incentive package
So that you can attract and retain talent to your business.
Amending your Articles of Association
To enable you to issue different classes of shares with varying rights.
Reviewing and maintaining statutory registers
To ensure your compliance with the Companies Act.
The importance of ‘anti-dilution’ in protecting your rights as a founder of your business.
Use of a cap table and helping you to prepare one in advance of a funding round so you’ll know where you stand post-investment.
Shaping your offering so that you qualify as a target for investors in tax-advantaged schemes
Such as the Enterprise Investment Schemes, and Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes.
Floating your company in an IPO if you want to offer shares to the public.
Ongoing compliance with your obligations to Companies House when managing your share capital and register of shareholders.
Stay ahead of your competition by understanding the ins-and-outs of share capital. Whether it’s declaring dividends, voting on key issues, incentivising staff, or securing a funding deal, we’ll help you use your share capital structure as an essential management tool to facilitate growth.
Issuing and allocating shares may seem simple yet giving away or selling shares can have a dramatic impact on the ownership structure and valuation of your company. We will explain to you why share ownership and share price is so important to the future of your new venture, and how to avoid losing control of your business. Avoiding mistakes at the beginning can ensure smooth sailing down the line.
Understanding what kind of shares each type of investor prefers is a must. Pick our brains and use us as a sounding board to help you structure your share capital to appeal to the right investors. We can also support you in valuing your company’s shares as part of a funding round.
These schemes are extremely beneficial for both entrepreneurs and investors. We can reveal how you can unlock the benefits of these schemes by leveraging your share capital so that you’ve got more money available to fund your operations.
We can help you distinguish a CSOP (or ESOP) from a SIP from SAYE and unravel the complexities of these plans to help you pick the scheme that’s right for your business and that will best attract, retain and incentivise key talent in your industry.
If your business has reached a point where it is appropriate to restructure your share capital, we’ll take care of all the necessary steps, from amending your corporate documents, liaising with employees, to obtaining consents from shareholders.
Are you ready to take your business public? Let us be your expert legal advisor partnering with you and your business at every stage of its growth, from seed funding rounds to an IPO, and beyond.
Whatever stage your business has reached, there’s a member of our specialist share capital team who can help. We offer expert legal advice and hands-on support for start-ups looking to scale their business. In fact, our objective is to provide legal support to start-ups that’s more accessible, affordable, and holistic in approach. We’ll get to know your business goals so that we can apply our legal knowledge and commercial experience to reach the best possible outcome specifically for you. And that’s not just in relation to share capital. With our legal subscription plans you can quickly access legal support, when you need it, across our range of integrated services.
What attracted me to Harper James was the pricing model they have in place. It means we get access to top legal professionals at prices we can afford. In our most recent funding round, the support we received was vital.
Mikhil Raja CEO, SonicJobs
Stephen was very helpful, pragmatic and where appropriate, entertaining. We were grateful for the way Stephen advised us in layman’s terms, showing patience to ensure we understood the transaction and were able to move to completion. I value the relationship we have developed with Harper James over the last few years and would recommend them to others.
Jon Arcos Founder & CEO, Axis Spine Technologies
The support, advice and guidance from Harper James was absolutely vital. Shubhu, Callum and the team there were always on hand to deal with any issues that we needed help with as the deal progressed. This is an exciting new stage in the development of the business.
Sam G Bose CEO and Founder, IntelliSense.io
My colleagues and I have found them to be adept at dealing with the variety of challenges facing early stage companies. They are a trusted source for sound, sensible advice and practical deal management.
Jill Shaw CEO, Anvil Semiconductors
Over the years Harper James have helped us navigate complex legal issues and red tape, providing distilled options and legal consultancy that far exceeds the service levels we’ve previously experienced from more traditional law firms. The team act like our own in-house counsel so, regardless of which lawyer we work with, we feel supported and that they truly have our best interests at heart.
Michael Edwards Co-Founder, Inspire Group
Ease of use, a familiar legal team supporting my business who understand my business, and provide value for money.
Daniel Lawrence CEO, Bots For That Ltd
Our team of corporate solicitors has extensive experience of share capital, also specialising in supporting start-ups with funding rounds, accessing and managing venture capital, M&A, and equity incentive schemes. Across our corporate team, we’ve provided legal advice in numerous, high-profile transactions.
Our innovative subscription plans and remote operating model means that you can access expert legal advice and assistance from partner-level solicitors from £159 per hour, a fraction of the cost of traditional City law firms. Many of our senior solicitors have been recruited from top 100 UK law firms or large international businesses. Learn more about the team here:
Founder & CEO
Toby is the Founder & CEO of Harper James, as well as a corporate & commercial solicitor. He specialises in venture capital and the tech sector.
Director of Legal Strategy and Operations & Head of Corporate
Adam is Director of Legal Strategy and Operations & Head of Corporate, responsible for the legal services aspects of Harper James.
Partner - Corporate
Jas is a corporate partner at Harper James Solicitors, advising on corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & investments.
Senior Solicitor - Employee Share Schemes
Abby is a senior employee share schemes solicitor, specialising in private equity investments, mergers & acquisitions, EMI share schemes, corporate finance and governance and more.
Partner - Corporate
With over 30 years of experience in corporate law, he has advised businesses from high growth start-ups to FTSE 100 (and international equivalent) in their M&A strategy, execution, fundraisings and joint ventures.
Senior Solicitor - Corporate
Shubhu specialises in early-stage fund raisings, shareholder arrangements and M&A. Prior to joining Harper James she worked at Mills & Reeve and before that at Addleshaw Goddard and Slaughter and May.
Senior Solicitor - Corporate
Callum is a senior corporate solicitor at Harper James, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and investments, as well as other corporate/commercial matters.
Solicitor - Corporate
Wajiha Haris is a corporate solicitor at Harper James, having studied at the University of Sheffield. She has a focus on corporate law.
Partner - Corporate
Jenni graduated from University College London before training and qualifying with Blake Morgan in 2013. She then spent over ten years working at top 50 law firms, initially Blake Morgan and then Gateley Legal.
Pricing and service plans
Our three transparent service plans are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:
Flexible access to senior solicitors at highly competitive rates
An alternative to our subscription plans, offering access to full service legal expertise on a project-by-project basis.
Purpose built legal support for start-ups and smaller businesses
Monthly subscription plan for £259 per month, with £174 monthly credit and access to all legal services at 50% discount on our Standard Rates.
Comprehensive legal partnership for established businesses
Fully account managed and scalable annual subscription plan with support from a curated team of partners and senior solicitors, with up to 33% discount on our Standard Rates.
Learn more about our service plans
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