A Shepherd and Wedderburn director has become the youngest board member of a leading housing association.

Ma’aruf Razzak, who specialises in property and infrastructure at the commercial law firm, has joined the board of the Grampian Housing Association.

Ma’aruf is based at Shepherd and Wedderburn’s office on Rubislaw Terrace in Aberdeen. He is delighted with his new project.

He said: “This opportunity became available and I thought it would be an interesting venture. I’m very proud to be the youngest member board member

“This is all about giving back to the community and the sector as a show of goodwill.

“Personally it will expand my knowledge in the area and complement the existing offering of Shepherd and Wedderburn.”

Established in 1975, the Grampian Housing Association is now a leading housing association based in the North East of Scotland. Through direct development and stock transfer, the Association now provides services to over 3,500 households.

The board oversees the strategic direction in which the Association is heading towards, and is responsible for ensuring that the Association is performing in line with targets.

Leading UK law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn and Bidwells’ property consultants were delighted to host First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at their breakfast seminar in the President’s Pavilion at the Royal Highland Show this morning, Friday June 23.

The event explored the constitutional and economic rural landscape against a backdrop of Brexit and the increasingly unstable political landscape in which the sector is operating.

One year on from the Brexit vote, Ms Sturgeon, accompanied by Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity Fergus Ewing, took the opportunity to address an audience of landowners, farmers, rural professionals and organisations at what was one of the most highly anticipated events at this year’s Show.

While she spoke on a variety of topics affecting the rural sector, there was a clear focus on the implications of Brexit, with Ms Sturgeon saying:

“EU workers are vital indeed to almost every part of the farming industry. And Scotland, more generally, has benefitted from freedom of movement.”

This is because, as Ms Sturgeon also commented, Scotland’s economy is dependant on the rural sector. She stressed that it is vital to provide a longer term commitment to farming in Scotland and that the Scottish Government would focus on giving farmers their full support.

Addressing how Scotland plans to move forward, the First Minister reminded the audience that once the Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Bill comes into force in December, then forestry will be fully devolved to Scotland, something she hopes can be said of the entire rural sector post-Brexit.

Following the First Minister’s address, political commentator and strategist at Message Matters Peter Duncan shared his unique insights and analysis of the political landscape and the changes ahead. In particular, he outlined the steps those in the agricultural and forestry industries need to take in order to agitate for continued support of the sector.

In his presentation, Raymond Henderson, forestry expert with Bidwells, praised the Scottish Government for its commitment to increase tree planting and the confidence which had been injected into the sector by Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing. However, he observed work was still ongoing to meet targets. Mr Henderson outlined the opportunities currently available to those interested in planting or buying established forestry and encouraged landowners to seek out opportunity in this sector.

Peter Misselbrook, Head of Rural Property at Shepherd and Wedderburn’s and the seminar chair said: “We were pleased to welcome the First Minister to be part of this gathering of key members of the rural community. This is always a well-attended event, but this year it was quite incredible. With the changes to the political landscape, there is an immense impact on the rural sector. A seminar like this, featuring such a fantastic line-up of speakers, provides fresh insight and ideas into current issues facing the industry.”

Leading UK law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn has acted for MedSource in a deal that saw the company acquire the data services division of Datatrial, a UK based international biometrics and technology company that supports clinical trials.

MedSource, a Houston-based clinical research organization, has experienced significant growth in the past three years, opening new facilities across the US. This deal marks the company’s first foray into the UK and will allow them to further expand into the European market. The acquisition adds new offerings for MedSource, including end-to-end clinical biometrics, data management, biostatistics and medical writing.

Partner Danny Lee, who led the Shepherd and Wedderburn team along with associate John Morrison, said: “It is great to be working with MedSource, an innovative and ambitious business. The acquisition of Datatrial will allow the company to significantly expand their customer service and data management capabilities. We are delighted that our expertise helped MedSource secure a deal which will help them achieve their wider ambitions.”

With the UK expansion, the company now has four offices, including Raleigh, North Carolina, and San Diego, California.

UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has acted for Safestay plc, in its £18.4m debt restructuring and refinancing with HSBC.

The Shepherd and Wedderburn team also acted for the group in completing sale and leaseback transactions on Safestay’s hostels in Edinburgh and London’s Elephant & Castle. Those transactions raised gross cash proceeds of £12.6m.

Safestay is best known as a provider of premium affordable tourist accommodation in city centre hostels across Europe.

Scott Ritchie, partner in Shepherd and Wedderburn’s real estate team, commented: “The combined drive and ambition of Safestay is truly impressive, and we are delighted to have assisted the group in all aspects of their recent refinancing and sale and leaseback transactions, including real estate, banking and corporate tax”.

The hostel sales were to an institutional buyer in exchange for 150 year geared ground rent leases. Safestay will continue to operate both hostels under long-term leaseholds whilst releasing the cash from the two properties.

Safestay Chairman Larry Lipman commented: “These deals had many ‘moving parts’ and required end-to-end legal advice and support to conclude them. We were both pleased and impressed by Shepherd and Wedderburn’s multi-disciplinary team, and the expertise and project management adeptness they brought to ensure that all bases were covered quickly.

Leading UK law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn has bid goodbye to another year at the All-Energy conference, its third as headline sponsor. The annual event, which took place on 10 and 11 May at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus, is the largest renewable energy event in the UK.

As the conference came to a close, the firm’s 90-strong Energy and Natural Resources group resumed its busy practice of acting for key industry players across the whole spectrum of renewable energy projects.

Speaking at the close of the event, Clare Foster, Head of Clean Energy at the firm commented:
“This is the third year we’ve acted as headline sponsor for All-Energy, and we are delighted yet again by the calibre of the event. As with previous years, All-Energy 2017 provided an excellent opportunity for our Energy and Natural Resources team to connect with our clients in the sector, forge new relationships and exchange ideas with renewable energy professionals who travel from all over the UK and further afield to attend. The conference and seminar programme covered all aspects of renewable energy generation and provided an excellent platform for us to showcase the expertise from across our firm.”

The event got off to an auspicious start when Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of Strathclyde, was joined by The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. Ms Sturgeon spoke about the Scottish Government’s commitment to renewable energy production and why it is so important to get it right, saying:
“Over the past ten years, our pattern of energy consumption has changed considerably, helping us to meet – and exceed – our 2020 target for reducing energy consumption six years early.

“Earlier this year we published our draft Energy Strategy. And what that does is set out our long-term plan to create an integrated, low carbon energy system – one that will benefit our economy, our environment and the people of this country.”

Setting the tone for the rest of the event, the All-Energy panels looked at the myriad of available options and technologies to meet these targets. And this was certainly the focus of the Sustainable Cities Panel, which Clare Foster, opened by asking whether the Scottish government’s energy strategy and its desire to move away from traditional energy generation to a synergy of renewable energy technologies and a low carbon future could really become a reality.

Out of the ensuing debate, covering everything from strengthening government policy to the need for better local leadership, emerged a new word to describe what is needed to make sustainable cities a reality – “joinedupness”. The phrase, coined by Jonathan Guthrie of the Robertson Group, expresses the need for more joined up or cohesive thinking from policy makers, community leaders, and anyone else who is working to make decarbonisation happen.

The announcement that the world’s largest floating wind farm scheduled for construction off Scotland’s North East coast also generated a lot of interest and discussion during the panel session which provided the market outlook for offshore wind , chaired by Shepherd and Wedderburn partner, Patricia Hawthorn.

Liz McRobb, partner at the firm, well known for her work in the utilities sector, spoke on Aviation mitigation – the ‘airscape’ in a post RO world; while solicitor, Stephanie Mill provided a whistle-stop tour of the key milestones between gaining consent and commencing construction of offshore projects, taking time along the way to answer questions from the floor; and David Anderson explored dispute resolution.

Shepherd and Wedderburn partner John Grady also chaired a session on turning waste into energy and during that panel session, G. John Kuipers, CEO & Owner of Pyr-Oil Group perfectly summed up the motivations behind the drive to turn waste into something useful, saying “we want to clean up the world.”
At the firm’s exhibition stand, Shepherd and Wedderburn lawyers chatted with delegates on a variety of topics including the Scottish Government’s Energy Strategy, as well as a host of other issues facing the energy sector.

The day two plenary session focused on Brexit and its implications for the UK energy sector. Chaired by Dr Nina Skorupska CBE, CEO, Renewable Energy Association, the panel comprised academics, leading figures from the industry and again featured the firm’s Clare Foster, who this time was contributing to the debate on what Brexit means in the short and medium term for the UK.

The winners of the IFLR European Awards have been announced, and a deal on which Shepherd and Wedderburn’s leading Banking and Finance team acted has come out on top.

The Towd Point Mortgage Funding 2016-Granite 1 deal was named the structured finance and securitisation deal of the year at the awards, which recognise the most innovative deals, teams, firms, and in-house deal makers from the past year.

Towd Point is a residential mortgage-backed securitisation under which £6.1 billion of bonds issued are backed by a pool of over 80,000 mortgages from the legacy book of Northern Rock acquired by Cerberus from the UK Government. It represents the largest transaction of its kind since the global financial crisis .

In addition to acting as Scottish counsel to the arrangers of the Towd Point deal, the firm acted on two other deals that were nominated at the awards: it acted for Close Brothers in their inaugural public securitisation which was one of the landmark transactions of the year in the UK Auto ABS sector; and it acted for MyDentist on the first sterling high yield bond deal following the Brexit vote.

Hamish Patrick, partner in Shepherd and Wedderburn’s Banking and Finance Team, said:

“We are pleased to be involved in a number of the biggest and most innovative deals in the market. Shepherd and Wedderburn is privileged to have so many great clients trust us with their complex transactions. We have one of the most cutting edge and hardworking teams in the banking and finance sector, and it is great to be acknowledged as such by the IFLR.”

The UK water industry is poised for change. Last month, retail competition for businesses was launched and now Ofwat are focusing on introducing greater competition and efficiency. And, in a world of increased competition where the value chain is being reconfigured, Ofwat and the water companies are now directing their gaze towards the further opportunities in the sector.

Sludge, and the ways in which the industry manages it, has long been of particular interest to many innovators in the sector especially those who wish to realise the full potential of turning it into energy. Next week John Grady, partner at law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn will explore some of the essential market and regulatory conditions required to achieve this, when he speaks at All-Energy, the UK’s largest renewable and low carbon energy event, which takes place in Glasgow on 10 – 11 May.

John will chair the session: Energy from Waste on the second day of the event and will also deliver his own presentation: Waste water and energy in the UK – the next big bang? Here he will look at issues relating to the scope for new contracting arrangements and key risk and compliance issues. He said: “There is no doubt that reforms will lead to further innovation. There are of course regulatory and structural challenges. However as the water industry moves from a vertically integrated world, the challenge to such collaboration will not only be of a technical and regulatory nature, it will also be a cultural one.”

Shepherd and Wedderburn has a strong reputation in the water sector with a long track record in advising on a wide range of regulatory issues and major water projects, both in the UK and internationally. The firm has had a prominent role in advising on the opening up of the English water non-household retail market to competition.