Richard Guthrie

Partner

Richard Guthrie

Richard is a Partner within our Corporate and Commercial Team, he has extensive experience of advising local and national clients on a wide range of matters.

Richard specialises in corporate and commercial law and has over 20 years’ experience advising clients on:

  • buying and selling businesses and companies;
  • shareholder arrangements and joint ventures;
  • company re-organisations and mergers;
  • share incentive schemes;
  • employee ownership trusts;
  • fundraising and banking documents;
  • partnerships and LLPs;
  • commercial agreements and general contractual issues.

Richard provides clear and practical advice focused on helping clients achieve their aims. He is praised for quickly identifying the key issues to resolve and for his commitment to making sure clients get their deal done on time.

Richard graduated in Law from King’s College London in 2000 and worked at the High Court and in Canada before joining Leathes Prior in 2004. He trained with the firm, qualified as a solicitor in September 2006, and became a Partner in 2014.  Richard is the firm’s Compliance Partner and Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He is also a trustee of Corton House & Brewster Court, a Care Home and Independent Living CIO in Norwich.

Richard is a Notary Public, which means he can help with authenticating documents for use in other countries.

 

Sell My Business

Selling your business can be long, complex and stressful, especially if your business isn’t ready for the legal process. Leathes Prior has developed a simple and easy-to-use tool, to help you identify the areas of your business that may need some attention and assess how ready your business is for sale. Click here to find out more:

Corporate matters Richard has acted on include:

  • acting for CVS, a large veterinary group, on the acquisition of over 100 veterinary practices across the country
  • advising on sale of road transport company Jack Richards & Son Limited to fellow East Anglia-based hauliers Turners (Soham) Limited
  • acting for Suffolk New College on its merger with Otley College
  • advising on sale of digital marketing agency PureContent to an Employee Ownership Trust
  • acting for Su-Bridge Pet Supplies on its acquisition of four pet food brands (Autarky, Chudleys, Gelert, and Gusto) from United Petfood
  • advising on sale of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering consultancy A F Howland Associates Limited to the Celnor Group
  • advising on the merger of Corton House, the first purpose-built voluntary-run care home for older people in England, and Brewster Court CIO, a local independent living organisation, which involved dealing with the Charity Commission, Regulator of Social Housing, CQC and FCA 
  • advising on sale of Linkx Systems to global packaging company WestRock
  • advising on fundraising for purchase of local manufacturing company Daro Group, subsequent acquisitions and ultimate sale to Swedish listed company
  • acting on the sale of the UK’s leading gas engine repair and overhaul specialists ABC Power to landfill site operator Enovert
  • advising on the sale of a number of Budgens supermarkets to other retailers
  • advising on sale of large local insurance group to national insurance broker
  • advising on management buyout of local engineering company
  • helping establish an EMI share option scheme for 20 employees and advising on subsequent sale to one of the UK's leading software companies
  • advising on a number of farming partnership agreements to help create certainty for the families and their assets

Recently reported deals:

Mike Vaughan, Director of Acquisitions, CVS Group plc
Richard has acted for CVS on the acquisition of over 100 businesses across the country. If you are buying or selling any business, I strongly recommend Richard as the solicitor to have on your side. I say this having dealt with a great many solicitors over the years. He is clear and practical in his advice but also extremely sharp and able to negotiate the most important points in his client’s favour because he knows the sale process inside-out. Richard is completely focused on managing a deal through to a successful conclusion and is always available.
Mervyn Douglas, former shareholder of Daro Group
Richard and Nina have guided me, on behalf of all of us, brilliantly through a complex process, and made the process as seamless and enjoyable as possible. I can’t personally thank them enough for their amazing support and expertise.
Selling Shareholder
Thank you once again for bringing this to a successful conclusion. This would not have happened without the calm, measured approach of you and your team and myself and the family are very grateful… Leathes Prior were definitely the company that made this work and have offered total support and professionalism throughout this whole process.
Edd Clapham, owner of CNC Machine Tools Limited
Great Results, Good Value and High Integrity. Richard helped me through an MBO and gave solid legal advice throughout the whole process, giving me time to reflect and move forward at my pace. I will be using Richard for all other matters in the future.