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Tim Ward

Partner, Head of Corporate in Cheltenham Corporate

About me

For me, deal making is the beating heart of organisational growth and allows me to work with business leaders with the courage and drive to grow their business. I am, at heart, a frustrated entrepreneur, so I love the infectious energy and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs whose ambitions stretch my imagination, tenacity and insight.

 

I focus on:

  • helping people to deliver their goals
  • providing a great service
  • making the process as painless as possible for the customer
  • engaging fully with their objectives
  • getting the deal done.

My experience with a wide range of clients, from start-ups with great people in charge, to firms needing to grow and those ready for sale, means that I am both flexible and technically strong and have seen most things before. So I know when to challenge the status quo and how to think beyond what clients see as possible in order to achieve their goals.

Outside work, I am an incredibly proud dad, a keen cyclist, runner and tennis player – I’m no Nadal, but I’m OK –  and I take any chance I can get to be outside or on a campsite; it gives me a totally different perspective on life.

“Top-rate” EMI scheme implementation leads to testimonial for Corporate Partner

Partner and Head of Corporate in Cheltenham Tim Ward team recently helped the founder of a new tech start-up implement a share incentive scheme. The scheme would allow the business owner to recruit the key members of staff he needed to drive his business forward. Tim and the Cheltenham Corporate team worked with the founder to identify which scheme would be right for his business, concluding that an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme would work best. Following successful implementation of the scheme, the business owner said: “Tim, thanks for your work on this over the last couple of years. A top-rate professional job; you made it easy for us. You’re my best experience to-date of commercial lawyers by a mile.”
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Corporate Partner praised following creative agency’s move to employee-owned trust

Oliver Tomlinson, the founder of London-based TDL creative, turned to HCR’s Head of Corporate in Cheltenham, Tim Ward, when he decided to sell 100% of his ownership of the creative agency to an employee ownership trust. This meant that instead of selling to another company, Oliver was able to hand the business over to his employees – who care about it’s future and want what’s best for it. The trust acts on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the team at TDL. Tim and the Corporate team worked with Oliver and business advisers Hazlewoods to ensure everything was set up with HMRC and Companies House. Following the creation of TDL’s employee-owned trust, Oliver provided this testimonial for Tim and the Corporate team: “For me, the EOT is a bit like a TDL rebirth. But this time round there’s a very clear goal; to hand over a growing company to the people who are responsible for its success, the people who make TDL great, the TDL team. I’d like to thank Tim Ward and the Corporate team at HCR for their deft assistance throughout.”
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Legal 500 - Tim Ward

Tim Ward and his team are professional while still friendly and accommodating to clients needs.
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Chambers and Partners - Tim Ward

Tim delivered on service, sophistication and commercial awareness/vision. I would recommend that anyone requiring M&A expertise should speak to Tim.
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Transatlantic marketing deal completed with expert team

Helen Higginbotham and Tim Ward recently helped to complete a deal in which a Florida-based market research company acquired a company in the UK. The CEO of the company said: “On behalf the entire team, thank you. “You’ve all been very professional and thorough throughout this entire process. While it was much more ‘involved’ than expected, the experience has left us feeling more comfortable and confident that it was done right and there is a much smaller chance of future issues because of that. “Special thanks to Helen and whoever else gave up their Friday night to push this over the finish line!” Regarding the case, Tim said: “It was fantastic to be a part of this transatlantic deal. Working across time zones is always tricky, but we were able to provide a positive result for our clients across the pond.” Helen Higginbotham said: “Our corporate, employment and commercial teams worked hard to ensure that the transaction ran smoothly and our client was provided with the support they needed to complete a key deal for them in the UK".
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Clear advice on business sale from corporate team

Our Cheltenham corporate team, led by Tim Ward, have been praised for their clear advice, attention to detail and timely action by clients Helen and Jon Yeomans, when the team acted for them on the sale of their online retail business. They said: “Tim Ward and his team at HCR Law handled the legal work on the sale of our online retail business in February 2021. Tim had been recommended to us by a friend and fellow solicitor, whose recommendation proved to be more than justified. Right from the outset, Tim gave us clear guidance on what would be involved in the legal process for our business sale and his calm and considered approach was very reassuring during what was a busy and stressful time for us. Tim has an excellent team around him, all of whom were very pleasant to deal with. We worked in particular with Olivia Brooks and Philippa Shepherd … and we appreciated their attention to detail and their patience. All of our questions (even the silliest ones) were handled with respect and care. Tim and his team stayed on top of the agreed schedule, were flexible when we hit delays from our buyer’s side, and responses to our emails and phone calls were quick and efficient. We felt that the HCR Law’s fees were very fair for the quality of advice and service we received and we would be happy to recommend Tim Ward and his team.”
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My Case studies

My Awards

Top Tips & FAQs

Discover my top tips

Believe in your own vision

Decide what really matters and stick to it – don’t get side tracked

Work with those that speak your language, work in the way that you want, will deliver for you and won’t become a drag.

Ensure that your support team can open doors for you and have connections.

Read questions I’m frequently asked

How can I build on and retain my key team?

Just bunging them lots of cash is not the best plan – consider EMI share options or growth shares, because they deliver long term buy in.

How can I attract investment and grow?

EIS investment is always worth trying; don’t underestimate the possibility of people being out there who may be interested in taking a punt and might be like minded enough to provide funding solutions.

What equity should I give away at an early stage?

Who knows? There is a lot of talk about how you value a business and lots of discussion about the process, but in my view you might as well stick a finger in the air and count to 10 - business owners should not get too fixated on valuation methods.

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