Martin Perry, Sondex Ltd

'Sondex was a private company when I joined just over nine years ago. The owner was talking about an AIM flotation and Nabarros were introduced to us as corporate lawyers who would be appropriate for the listing.

In the end, we went for a small MBO, followed by a secondary buy-out and, eventually, a listing on the Official List of the London Stock Exchange. Sondex has grown from a market cap of £15 million in 1997 to £150 million today.

Nabarros have been our corporate lawyers all the way through and we also use them for commercial activities. The people must be capable of understanding our business, our attitude towards deals and anticipating what the principals are likely to require. Nabarros satisfy all three criteria. Any relationship with a law firm comes down to individuals. Nabarros advise us on what we ought to do but appreciate the commercial rationale for taking a different line where necessary. At the end of the day, we’re good mates. We joke, we jibe, but they always maintain a professional outlook.

For example, one of Nabarros senior partners is an Arsenal fan. We were locked together on a transaction when he disappeared into his office to continue working while keeping an eye on a big game. It was fine by us. Arsenal won so the deal got done faster!

One deal involved several members of the Nabarros team but only one lawyer from the other side. Overcoming their understandable frustration, Nabarros did a lot of this chap’s work so the transaction could be completed on time.

An announcement was due at 7am and they worked through the night to make it happen.

As Sondex continues to grow, we’ll be looking to our legal firm for multidisciplinary advice. If possible, we’d like to keep everything under one roof. Whether that is feasible or not remains to be seen but the fact that we would like it to happen speaks volumes for our confidence in Nabarros.’