Sponsor spotlight: BRM Solicitors BRM Solicitors has offices in Sheffield and Chesterfield and specialises in supporting tech start-ups on their growth journeys. We are delighted to welcome BRM Solicitors to the Sheffield Digital community as an associate sponsor. Whilst the firm offers both individual and commercial services, the majority of its clients are businesses, including a number of tech firms. The team at BRM are excited about working with exceptional people and companies in Sheffield, acting as a trusted advisor and ‘more than just lawyers’. We caught up with Giles Searby and Trevor Bird from BRM to find out what this means for digital businesses in our community. Over the past 39 years, BRM has built expertise in supporting businesses of all sizes, advising on commercial matters such as Intellectual Property (IP), sales contracts, service agreements, commercial property issues, dispute resolution and employment law. In that time, the firm has helped tech start-ups to negotiate the challenges and opportunities that present themselves in the early days to market. Giles Searby, a director specialising in intellectual property matters and supporting tech business with disputes, explains, “There are so many things that founders have to think about as they begin to operate as a new business, from bringing in a first employee to putting in place a shareholder agreement and seeking the first premises. We want to educate businesses in the early stages and give them the tools to make informed decisions.” He continues, “Of course, budgets can be tight during the ‘hunger gap’ of getting to market so being clear on the legal issues that need to be prioritised, as opposed to the ‘nice to haves’, is crucial to get the business started on the right footing. This can directly affect the businesses’ ability to seek further investor funding.” The team at BRM see further potential in Sheffield City Region’s digital industries, even more so following the innovations developed regionally and nationally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their clients include MedTech companies, that BRM has recently supported to complete successful funding rounds, setting them up for continued growth. Trevor Bird, Associate Solicitor at BRM, is keen to see the tech sector in Sheffield reach its ‘tremendous potential’ through more creative risk-taking. He says, “For Sheffield to continue to grow as a nationally recognised tech cluster, I’d like to see more of our exciting start-ups taking the right risks when seeking investment. At BRM we can help tech businesses realise their ambitions through not only our own extensive expertise, but also by making introductions within our trusted professional network contacts to assist with issues such as funding rounds, property search, financial advice, and general business mentorship and support.” We’ll be hearing more from Trevor on the topic of investment in the near future so keep an eye out, and if you have questions about securing investment for your business that you’d like us to ask Trevor, just get in touch. You can find out more about BRM on the website and you can stay up to date with company news by following them on Twitter and on LinkedIn.
