Shakespeare Martineau launches China Desk

It has been a busy year for the corporate team at Shakespeare Martineau -  in the past year alone[1] 20+ transactions were completed by the Bristol corporate team, with  a combined transaction value of £410m+ across those deals.

The standout mandate of the past year was acting for DragonPass — a Guangzhou-headquartered global travel and lifestyle rewards platform with a presence in over 130 countries, and partnerships with more than 400 of the world’s leading brands, with UK operations based in Manchester. We advised on its acquisition of majority shares in Ello Group Holdings Ltd, the business behind three of the UK's most recognizable consumer loyalty brands: tastecard, Gourmet Society, and Coffee Club.

Led by Paul Hardman, one of our long-serving directors, and Jing Wang, a dual-qualified Chinese/English solicitor, Shakespeare Martineau’s China Desk was established in 2023 to support Chinese businesses and investors with an established UK presence, or those looking to enter, grow and innovate in the UK and wider international markets and is now helping UK companies looking to establish a presence in China. 

Today Shakespeare Martineau officially launch the China Desk. Read moreabout how the China Desk can provide practical, commercially focused support for Chinese businesses and investors looking to establish, grow or invest in the UK

[1] ¹ Transaction value figures refer to deals completed by the Bristol office corporate team including works led by Paul and Jing from China Desk in the most recent financial year. The wider Shakespeare Martineau corporate team completed nearly £1 billion of deals in the same period.