Kerry Southworth

Associate Solicitor

Corporate

t: 01772 429396 m: 07551 433326 e: kerry.southworth@harrison-drury.com

Kerry is an Associate Solicitor in the Corporate team having joined Harrison Drury in July 2015 after graduating with a first class degree in Law and subsequently achieving a distinction in the Legal Practice Course from the University of Central Lancashire.

Kerry has extensive experience in all aspects of corporate and commercial law and her areas of expertise include advising clients on a wide variety of matters, including corporate governance, group re-organisations and employee incentive schemes.

In particular, Kerry provides transactional support on mergers and acquisitions, often leading the due diligence and disclosure exercises. She also supports clients and other teams within Harrison Drury with company law queries, often assisting the litigation team with corporate matters.

Kerry holds a speciality in group re-organisations, including capital reduction demergers and advising on share structures. She represents Harrison Drury in stakeholder meetings with bodies such as Companies House and, together with the rest of the team, keeps informed on any upcoming changes in corporate law. In 2024, Kerry will be taking a critical role in the roll-out of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.

Kerry works with a range of clients from high net worth individuals with business interests and assets to family owned businesses and SMEs to large corporates. She also works with funders such as venture capitalists and other finance professionals.

Some work highlights from Kerry include:

Acting on the formation of a venture capitalist fund
Acting on the disposal of a circa £20 million manufacturing company
Key adviser to Geoff Toft in the sale of Brec (Holdings) to Richemon Group International
Advising David Hodge on the sale of Ribble Fuel Oils to NWF Fuels
Advising Walker Fire on its formidable acquisition plans, including acquisitions of Fire Crest, Detector Alarms, Southern Fire Protection and many more
Advising Guy Topping on the sale of Barton Grange Hotel (now known as Barton Hall) to Double Dutch Hotels Ltd
Advising shareholders of FIT Events in relation to a management buy-out
Advising on the sale of County Group to Global Risk Partners
Lead adviser on capital reduction demerger of assets in holiday company worth £2.3 million in anticipation of an onward sale
Legal adviser for Veg Capital and The Vegan Food Group.

Outside of work you can find me…

Outside of work, Kerry enjoys long walks with her rather energetic family dog. No stranger to adventure, Kerry is always up for a challenge, and completed Tough Mudder in September 2017 raising money for charity. Kerry also enjoys the theatre, with a particular penchant for musicals.

Awards and Rankings

Jack and Kerry were exemplary.

Legal 500

‘ would like to support Jack Stephenson for his team leadership and overall control of the process and I’d like to give a special thanks to Kerry Southworth for the time and effort she put into her data room … so much information to collate in a restricted time scale and Kerry was exemplary.

Nick Booth and Kerry Southworth have been fantastic to work with.

Legal 500

They answer any question we have in a manner in which we understand and best suits us. They are both friendly and very easy to approach.

We work very closely with Kerry Southworth who has handled our account for a number of years.

Legal 500

She has always answered our queries promptly and more importantly, for a business of our magnitude, there are always legal issues that need a quick answer.

Nick Booth and Kerry Southworth have been fantastic to work with.

Legal 500

They answer any question we have in a manner in which we understand and best suits us. They are both friendly and very easy to approach.

Ranked by Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500

Harrison Drury is ranked by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500, two leading independent guides to the UK’s top legal firms and solicitors.

These guides highlight the solicitors who are providing the most cutting-edge and innovative advice to clients and we are ranked across our range of practice areas and people.