Business<br />Profiles 
The firm: Thompson Smith and Puxon can trace its roots back to 1879 and has since grown to be one of the leading law firms in Essex, with 12 partners, some 70 employees, and offices in Colchester and Clacton. It offers a range of legal advice to businesses and individual clients. Its specialist practice areas, with accredited lawyers and attentive support staff, ensure clients receive the most professional and practical advice available.
Business services team: TSP looks after the business issues that matter to its clients whether they are large or small. The corporate and commercial team includes a number of lawyers with City law background and experience. Clients of TSP are regional, national and international, and include single-owner start-ups, high-net-worth individuals, SMEs and multinationals.
Sectors include: manufacturing, construction, care homes, hotels, energy (including solar and windfarms), professional services, agricultural businesses and dentistry.
Corporate/commercial: providing commercially driven advice, and transactional and advisory work (domestic and cross-border) in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance, refinancing, reorganisations and de-mergers, shareholder arrangements and joint ventures, share options, partnerships (including corporates), insolvency, agency and distribution, and supply and maintenance agreements across a broad range of industries.
Employment: delivering solutions-based advice and supporting clients in the day-to-day management of their people, legal issues and risk. The team works on a strategic and operational level on both contentious and non-contentious matters across the private and public sectors including contracts of employment, restrictive covenants, employment policies and procedures, share option schemes, dismissals and redundancy, employment disputes (including tribunal representation), settlement agreements, business sales and reorganisations.
Dispute resolution: providing alternative dispute resolution (by mediation and negotiation), and advising on civil and commercial disputes including contentious probate, breach of contract and negligence, insolvency (corporate and individual), injunctions, commercial and residential landlord and tenant and boundary disputes, and consumer rights.
Real estate and property: delivering high-quality commercial and innovative advice on property matters to its clients, including property ownership (for dwelling, trading and investment purposes), management, development, acquisitions and disposals, options, joint ventures and property financing.
Agriculture and estates: TSP has long-standing and strong relationships with the rural community in Essex, Suffolk and the surrounding counties. Headed by Stephen Firmin, a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association, the team is familiar with the specific issues and problems that the sector has and can advise on all matters that concern farmers and landowners.
