Stephen Silvester

Consultant

I’m a corporate lawyer with a focus on venture capital investments and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to my career in law, I spent over 25 years in business management, joining Courtaulds plc (FTSE 100 constituent) from university as a management trainee and then rejoining the company on completion of my MBA at London Business School in a corporate finance/business development role, working on business strategy (including M&A) and the IPO of Courtaulds Textiles plc on its demerger from Courtaulds plc.

I subsequently managed a number of divisions of Courtaulds Textiles as CEO in the UK and Asia Pacific. I then joined the Pentland Group plc as Global VP Operations for Speedo International before joining Jockey International as Managing Director for Europe.

In my business management career, I lived and worked in the UK, USA, Hong Kong and Germany and completed several corporate transactions including business disposals, acquisitions and joint ventures and thoroughly enjoyed working with the legal advisers on these transactions, which inspired me to qualify as a lawyer and practice corporate law. I was called to the Bar in England and Wales at Middle Temple in 2010 and joined White & Black in the same year, subsequently qualifying as a solicitor.

I have been privileged to experience a range of corporate transactions from different perspectives; as in-house corporate finance executive, CEO and more recently as a lawyer, working with clients and alongside their corporate finance advisers. I have strived to utilise my experience and knowledge for the benefit of our clients, and it is a truly beautiful thing to help clients realise their business objectives.

“They were efficient, intelligent and professional. They exceeded every one of our expectations and more over were genuinely fun to work with.”

Piers Daniell, CEO, Tewke

"Expert and pragmatic advice. Brilliant at handling our inevitable anxieties and frustrations. Highly recommended."

Peter Swanson, Managing Director, Intertronics

“Trusted lawyers who are highly responsive to our needs and who appreciate commercial realities.”

Nigel Harris, Absolute Taste

"Pragmatic, accessible support of the highest quality. The team are thoroughly knowledgeable, and their technical expertise brings with it real, tangible value"

Peter O’Connell, Managing Partner, Shaw Gibbs

"A stellar team of top lawyers, huge levels of experience and a pragmatic edge that is often elusive within the large firms.”

The Legal 500

"Technically excellent advice throughout. Focused and pragmatic in their approach."

Alex Mifsud, Co-Founder and CEO, Weavr

"A highly experienced and dedicated team. Their advice was always timely, crystal clear and brought great insight.”

Sam Pemberton, CEO, Skill Dynamics

"Excellent legal support, a vital flexible resource"

Matthew Hare, Founder of Gigaclear

"Fantastic to work with. Sophisticated practitioners who are thoughtful, detail-oriented, timely and creative. They have exceptional knowledge."

The Legal 500

"The thing that sets them apart is that their starting point is to look at what the overall commercial objectives are. Any strategy is then designed to best support and deliver these."

Chambers Guide

"It’s deeper than a transactional relationship. They’re more like an extension of our team, replacing the need for in house legal advice".

Recent Client Focus Group Response

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White & Black: A New Look – The ‘why’ behind White & Black’s rebrand

CEO, Victoria Wright, explains the why and how behind our recent rebrand process.

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Stephen Silvester

White & Black: A New Look – The ‘why’ behind White & Black’s rebrand

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