Human Resources & Recruitment
The human resource and recruitment sectors have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years and, with business confidence having returned to the market, this growth seems set to continue in the short term at least. However, despite increasing growth, increased legislation and competition in the market place are putting greater pressure and demands on recruiters. This increased pressure has seen a rapid rise in corporate activity in the sector, with mergers, acquisitions, MBOs, and restructurings becoming more frequent.
Teacher Stern’s Human Resources & Recruitment team comprises of lawyers from a number of different practice areas who work together seamlessly to provide an integrated and full service to our recruitment clients. Our Corporate team advises HR and recruitment clients through the full life cycle of their business including incorporation, raising finance, restructuring, establishing share and other incentive schemes, making strategic acquisitions and selling agencies or businesses.
When it comes to intellectual property, data protection, privacy, agency agreements, introducer agreements, IT support, service agreements, confidentiality agreement and standard terms and conditions, Teacher Stern’s experienced Commercial team will be on hand to provide not just legal advice, but also commercial advice based on their knowledge of the human resources & recruitment sectors.
Like most businesses, HR and recruitment businesses also require tax and banking advice – whether in relation to restructurings, raising finance or the establishment of new business units or agencies. Our Banking & Finance and Tax teams will be able to guide you through these processes pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of the options available and formulating new options appropriate to your individual situation.
Our Employment team regularly advises recruitment businesses on a range of contentious and non-contentious employment issues. The team has particular expertise advising on recruiting employees (and teams of employees) bound by restrictive covenants, as well as advising employees themselves. We are also experienced in advising employers facing the departure of employees to competitors including issuing proceedings to seek rapid injunctive relief in the face of a sudden defection. As well as recruitment strategy, we also regularly advise employers and employees negotiating employment contracts and bonus schemes. The Employment team is supported by members of our Immigration team who advise HR and recruitment firms on securing foreign workers and employees.
Teacher Stern has a wealth of knowledge across the human resources and recruitment sectors. Whether you’re looking to set up, buy, grow or sell a recruitment business, our human resources and recruitment team can provide you with a cost effective and first class industry focussed solution.
Our clients include recruitment agencies of all types and sizes ranging from small independent agencies to large, niche firms.
Representative work
Examples of our human resources & recruitment work include:
- Advised a leading financial recruiter in relation to a number of matters ranging from the establishment of corporate structures, internal restructurings and various commercial contracts.
- Advised on the extraction of the founding partners from a leading executive search business (including the negotiation of a release from their restrictive covenants) and the establishment of a new recruitment business.
- Advised high net worth clients of leading head hunters (on behalf on the head hunters) on leaving current positions and moving to new positions.
- Advised on the sale of a specialist IT recruitment company to a plc.
- Advised two leading companies (each a subsidiary of a listed plc) on their terms of engagement with executive search companies.
Key contacts:
Biography
As head of the firm’s corporate and commercial practice, David’s broad transactional experience includes acquisitions, disposals, take-overs and mergers, asset sales/purchases, joint ventures and company restructuring. He also advises clients on a range of corporate and commercial matters, including company/partnership formation, partnership/shareholders agreements and employment issues.
David has particular experience in the field of sport, acting amongst others for prospective purchasers of Premiership and Football League clubs in takeovers. He is also at the forefront of the development in England of the investment in and transfer of the economic rights of sportsmen and women.
For property investor clients, he has particular expertise in the disposal and acquisition of corporate and similar structures which assist in mitigating stamp duty land tax.
David was listed as a ‘leading individual’ in the Legal 500 2020 rankings. He was also listed as a recommended lawyer in the 2024 rankings.
Representative Experience
David has experience:
- Acting for investors in the economic rights of football players playing in the Premier League and the top divisions in other European Countries as well as in South America. Over the years, David has been involved in providing advice connected with the transfers, economic rights participation and/or playing rights of various Premier League and foreign based players including Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Jo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Fabiano and Heurelho Gomes to name but a few. More recently David has provided advice in relation to the following players: Paulhino (Tottenham) Willian (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea) and Carlos Tevez (Juventus).
- Advising on a £430 million acquisition of a mixture of offshore and onshore companies owning 180 petrol stations and advising on the sale thereof three years later.
- Acting on a series joint ventures for a leading UK celebrity magazine and newspaper publisher with a combined value in excess of £280m.
- Acting for the prospective purchasers in their takeover of a Premier League Football Club.
- Advising on the £166 million sale of a group of companies with an industrial portfolio.
- Acting on the acquisition and financing of 545 public houses, worth £163 million.
- Advising on the £25 million sale to a UK plc of a leading UK independent internet service provider.
- Advising the founders and owners of a high end chain of London coffee shops on the sale, earn out and rollover of the owners’ differing interests in the business to a well known industry leading private equity firm.
- Advising the owners of a mining public relations agency on the sale of the worldwide operations to a UK quoted company.
Testimonials
‘David Salisbury is extremely personable, has an acute commercial sense and instils every confidence that he will provide sound reasoned advice with his clients best interests and not there to score points with the other side.’
Legal 500
Year qualified
Solicitor, 1992
Career History
Partner, Teacher Stern
