I joined Thrive as I love the values that we stand and fight for. I wanted to be part of a forward-thinking team, where the wellbeing of each member genuinely matters. Everyone is appreciated and respected as an individual, not a number; We are all totally committed to supporting each other, and to helping the team to grow and develop. The thrive team provide me with the support and flexibility to balance my work life along with my personal life and raising my daughter. At Thrive, you don’t have to make a choice of prioritising your career or your family; you can honestly have it all
Andrew Smith
Corporate Solicitor (Freelance)
About:
Andrew Smith is a Corporate Solicitor with 20 years of experience in the UK.
He specialises in banking and finance, company law, commercial contracts, and IP/IT.
Andrew is qualified in both England and Australia, having trained in Sydney with top 10 Pacific Rim firm before moving to London and working for five years in structured property finance and PFI projects teams for institutional lenders and government.
He moved to the Westcountry in 2002 and was promoted to Partner in 2004. Andrew went on to develop a banking practice and broader corporate/commercial skills.
He later founded a law firm for an Exeter-based group of IFAs and accountants that grew to a sizeable annual turnover and headcount, covering property, company and private client.

Expertise:
- Banking and Finance
- Acting primarily for lending institutions on property, project and asset-based loans.
- Extensive corporate finance experience with some leasing and film finance.
- Public sector
- Junior lawyer on large projects in Sydney.
- Various PFI projects (MoD and Schools) in London.
- Advised SWRDA on numerous SFI lending deals.
- Prepared lending precedents for SWRDA and Finance Cornwall.
- Corporate
- Advising private limited companies, their owners and boards in relation to M&A deals, shareholder agreements, corporate structures and equity investments.
- Commercial
- Commercial contracts in manufacturing, supply, service/consultancy arrangements, distributor, agency and trade deals.
- E-commerce and IP/IT
- Wide range of investment and shareholder tech-based transactions, such as joint ventures and sweat equity.
- Web-based businesses and supply of software products and services.
- Protection, exploitation and transfer of intellectual property rights.
Qualifications:
- BA Politics, English & History, University of New South Wales
- LLB Law, University of Wollongong
- Professional Admissions Course, College of Law NSW
- Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test, BPP
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