Matthew Vance

I am an Associate in our London Commercial Group, working primarily in the Retail & Consumer, Hospitality and International Education sectors.

My focus is on helping brand owners and various brand stakeholders develop new relationships with each other and successfully manage existing ones. I have advised on a wide range of commercial models including franchising, distribution, licensing, outsourcing, joint venture and management agreements, as well as a number of bespoke models that combine different elements of these.

I enjoy not just the excitement of new deals, but also advising clients on day-to-day operational matters drawing on the sector knowledge I have gained.

Highlights of my work include: helping well known F&B and product retail brands expand into new international territories; advising a large UK property owner and a Spanish hotel brand on their London hotel portfolios; and working with more than fifteen British schools on their international expansion projects, mainly in China and the Middle East.

As a trainee, I sat in our Dispute Resolution group during the first wave of Covid-19 and helped advise a number of Retail and Hospitality clients on handling a variety of difficult issues that arose with partners. I have taken this experience forward as a Commercial Associate, both in terms of advising clients during the initial stages of a dispute, but also explaining the practical consequences of different contractual decisions faced by clients during the drafting process.

I have completed a secondment to the IP team of a large international bank, which helped me better understand the practical realities that many brands face in terms of protecting their brand and taking enforcement actions against infringers.

Before training as a solicitor, I worked abroad in the USA, France and Turkey, gaining an international perspective that helps me diffuse misunderstandings that can often all too easily arise in cross-border transactions.