Our Team
All our senior team have trained with top global legal and accountancy firms.
Hannah Needle FGE
Board Member and Legal DirectorHannah advises on the implementation and continuing operation of all types of executive and employee share and incentive plans, including the design and establishment of new plans, managing grants and maturities under existing plans and advising on tax and legal matters. She has experience with tax-advantaged and non-tax-advantaged arrangements and the use of employee trusts. She also advises on the impact of corporate transactions that may affect a company's incentive arrangements.
Appointments
- Awarded Fellowship of the Global Equity Organisation (GEO) in 2019
- UK Share Plan Lawyers Group: Co-Chair of the Corporate and Regulatory Committee
- GEO: member of the Partner Alliance Council and UK Chapter Committee
- Share Schemes Advanced Studies Group: Member
Education
- BA Law with French, Sheffield University (one year at the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis)
- Legal Practice Certificate, Sheffield University
Speaking and publications
Regular speaker at GEO and ProShare annual conferences
Interests
Reading, going to Spas and champagne - preferably at the same time! Loves spending time with family.
Chris Fallon
Board Member and Legal DirectorChris was appointed to the Board when the firm became an employee owned business in October 2020. With over 15 years' experience, Chris has a broad range of experience advising on UK tax-advantaged plans, senior executive plans and employee benefit trusts for listed companies and private equity owned businesses. Chris advises on broader employment related tax issues. Chris was in the tax and employee share plans team of City law firm Travers Smith.
Education
Law LLB, Sheffield University
Speaking and publications
Chris is a lecturer for the ICSA Certification in Employee Share Plan Qualification and speaks regularly at industry events such as the ProShare annual conference and at Global Equity Organisation conferences.
Interests
Running, gardening, films, TV, concerts and theatre.
Lorna Parkin
Board Member and Senior AssociateLorna specialises in all aspects of global and UK employee share plans and executive remuneration. She advises many leading global companies and banks on their global share plans including advising on global due diligence and securities filings, stock plan design and drafting plan documents. Lorna also advises companies on the impact of transactions on their global share plans. Lorna trained as a corporate lawyer with international law firm DLA Piper before joining Tapestry and leads on a number of our large global clients such as Dell Technologies, Morgan Stanley, Rolls-Royce and TripAdvisor.
Education
- Law LLB, King’s College University
- Legal Practice Course, Sheffield University
Publications
The Executive Remuneration Review - EU Overview, 4th (2015) and 5th (2016) Editions
Speaking
Lorna regularly presents at GEO, ProShare and NASPP annual conferences, on webinars and at other industry events.
Interests
Yoga, cooking, travel, literature.
Suzannah Crookes
Legal DirectorSuzannah has extensive experience advising UK and overseas companies on the introduction and ongoing operation of their share plans and other equity incentive arrangements, both at executive level and for the wider workforce. She supports companies in the design and implementation of plans to meet tax, legal and governance best practice requirements whilst maintaining focus on effective communication and alignment with commercial strategy. She works with companies to ensure compliant operation of plans both in a "business as usual" context as well as through any corporate actions.
Suzannah brings experience from her previous roles in the big 4 as well as a large international law firm, together with additional previous experience having been a member of the corporate tax advisory team in that firm.
She is actively involved with the Global Equity Organisation as part of the North and Midlands committee for the UK Chapter, with ProShare as a member of serveral focus groups, and has also sat on the Steering Committee of the ESOP Centre.
Education
- MA in Music from Trinity College Cambridge
- CPE and LPC from the College of Law
Speaking
Suzannah has presented regularly at a range of industry events including for GEO and ProShare, and at events and webinars for service providers, as well as participating in panel sessions.
Interests
Music, reading, gardening.
Sarah Bruce
Senior AssociateSarah is an experienced solicitor specialising in tax and share plans. Before joining Tapestry, Sarah jointly headed the tax team at leading corporate firm Walker Morris. She works with both UK and global clients on the implementation of UK and global incentive plans, and specialises in UK tax-advantaged share plans. She has provided tax advice across a range of employment and corporate transactions and has particular experience in providing tax advice to management teams in the context of corporate transactions. Sarah has worked with Tapestry's network of overseas lawyers to provide due diligence and implementation support for clients in connection with global incentive plans.
Education
- Legal Practice Course, Nottingham Law School
- Graduate Diploma in Law, Nottingham Law School
- Business Management MSc, Loughborough University
- English Literature and Language BAHons, Loughborough University
Interests
Snowboarding, hockey, cinema, travel, and spending time with family.
Sally Blanchflower
Senior AssociateSally is a Senior Associate and specialises in all aspects of global stock plans for leading global companies and banks, including advising on global due diligence and securities filings, stock plan design and drafting plan documents. Sally has a broad corporate and commercial background, having trained as a corporate lawyer at an international firm and she leads on a number of our large global clients such as HSBC, Aviva, Weir Group, Trimble and TripAdvisor. Sally teaches on the UK's ICSA Certificate in Employee Share Plans, delivers inhouse training courses on share plans for companies, and is the co-lead of the Tapestry "OnTap" global compliance database covering the legal and tax requirements in over 140 countries.
Education
- Law LLB, University College London
- Legal Practice Course, University of Sheffield
Speaking and publications
Sally regularly presents at GEO, ProShare and NASPP annual conferences, on webinars and at other industry events.
Interests
Travel, netball, yoga and climbing.
Paul Abthorpe
Senior AssociatePaul has a broad range of experience supporting listed and private businesses on their executive and all-employee incentive arrangements, both in the UK and internationally. He advises in relation to the design, implementation and operation of incentives taking into account tax, legal and governance requirements.
He has in-depth experience of supporting fast growth tech companies in relation to their incentive arrangements, including as they prepare for a sale or IPO.
Paul trained and qualified with international law firm Pinsent Masons before spending nearly 9 years working in the reward practice of PwC. He also spent a period on an in-house secondment at a FTSE 100 company where he was involved in the roll out, grant and vesting of share plan awards to a global employee population.
Education
- BSc in Chemistry, University of York
- GDL and LPC, Nottingham Law School
Interests
Korfball, motorsport, parkrun and activity holidays.
Emma Parker
Senior AssociateEmma specialises in all aspects of UK share plans, including advising on executive remuneration and UK tax-advantaged plans, the establishment of new share plans, plan rule drafting and reviewing the legal and tax aspects of plan awards. Emma also has significant experience in establishing and advising on overseas tax-qualified plans, working closely with our network of overseas lawyers to operate tax-qualified plans in France, Spain, Israel, the US and other countries. Emma leads on a number of our clients such as Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Howdens and Hays. Emma has a broad corporate and employment tax background, having joined Tapestry from the tax team at Pinsent Masons. Emma also leads on Tapestry's Chartered Governance Institute (formerly ICSA) Certificate in Employee Share Plans.
Education
- Law LLB, University of Hull
- Legal Practice Course, College of Law (now University of Law)
Speaking and Publications
- Lead on Tapestry's Chartered Governance Institute (formerly ICSA) Certificate in Employee Share Plans
- Regular speaker at Howells' Global Groups
- Speaker at Willis Towers Watson's Reward Leadership Conference (Tax and Accounting module)
Interests
Travel, cooking and baking, literature.
Steve Penfold
Managing AssociateSteve advises companies on tax-qualified employee share plans as well as global executive plans, advising on global due diligence and securities filings, share plan design and drafting plan documents. Steve qualified as a lawyer after having a career in the British Army as a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, serving in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Education
- BPP University of Law, Law
- Cranfield University, Engineering and Electronic Systems Engineering
Interests
Steve competes internationally in hang-gliding.
Matthew Hunter
Managing AssociateMatthew specialises in all aspects of global incentive arrangements and works with clients in a range of sectors. Matthew has a particular focus on financial services remuneration and has significant experience advising global banks, asset managers and insurers on EU and global remuneration regulation compliance.
Education
- Law LLB, Sheffield Hallam University
- Law, Business and Management MSc, University of Law
- Legal Practice Course, University of Law
Speaking and publications
- Speaker at the Global Equity Organisation Annual Conference, Amsterdam 2019
- Speaker at the City & Financial Remuneration Summit, London 2019
- Speaker at various other events in London, New York and Tokyo during 2019
- Co-editor of the "EU Overview" chapter of 'The Executive Remuneration Review', Editions 4 to 8 (2015 to 2019).
Interests
Matthew has served on the governing board and resources committee of Broomfield South SILC, an all-age special school in Leeds, for the last two years.
Matthew also enjoys spending his time travelling and eating great food (preferably together).
Sonia Taylor
AssociateSonia advises companies on global compliance in relation to their executive and employee share plans. She advises many leading companies on global due diligence, securities filings and drafting plan documents. Sonia was previously a corporate lawyer with leading firm Walker Morris before joining Tapestry.
Education
- Law LLB, University of Leicester
- Legal Practice Course, BPP Law School, Leeds
- Law LLM, University of Amsterdam.
Interests
Family, travel and yoga - Sonia is planning to qualify as a yoga teacher in 2020.
Rebecca Campsall
AssociateRebecca advises many leading companies on global compliance in relation to their executive and employee share plans, including advising on global due diligence and securities filings, share plan design and drafting plan documents. During her time at Tapestry, Rebecca was also an elite athlete who represented England in the 100 metres.
Education
- Law and Criminology LLB, University of Sheffield
- Legal Practice Course, University of Sheffield
Interests
Rebecca has now retired from athletics and her current hobby is being kept busy by her adorable twin daughters.
Tom Parker
AssociateTom advises on all aspects of global and UK employee share plans and executive remuneration. This includes the establishment of new share plans, plan rule drafting and reviewing the global legal and tax implications of various awards. Tom also works with a number of financial services clients on their fund plans.
Education
Law LLB, University of York
Interests
Keen badminton player and gym goer.
Emilie Sylvester
AssociateEmilie advises on all areas of global employee share plans, with a focus on executive and all-employee incentive plans, plan communications and global legal and tax compliance reviews for some of our biggest clients. Emilie is also on our OnTap project team. Emilie joined our legal team having previously worked at international law firm, DLA Piper.
Education
- Law LLB, University of Sheffield
- ICSA Cert. ESP
- Legal Practice Course, University of Law
- Masters in Law, Business & Management, University of Law
Interests
Food, Photography, Technology and Travel.
Lewis Dulley
AssociateLewis works on global legal and tax compliance projects. Lewis joined our legal team having previously worked at CMS.
Education
- Law LLB, University of Sheffield
- Legal Practice Course, University of Sheffield
Interests
Ice and Roller Hockey - where Lewis has represented team GB at the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Olivia Rodrigo
Legal Assistant (Trainee Lawyer)Olivia is a legal assistant who works with our lawyers on all aspects of our client work. She joined us after completing a law degree at the University of Sheffield and a masters in international law at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
Richard Compton
Legal Assistant (Trainee Lawyer)Richard is a legal assistant who works with our lawyers on all aspects of our client work. He joined us after leaving Trinity College, Oxford, and completing his GDL, followed by an internship at Weil LLP.
Gemma Morgan
Legal Assistant (Trainee Lawyer)Gemma is a part-time Legal Assistant (Trainee Lawyer) who works with our lawyers on all aspects of our client work. Gemma has a background in law and as a Chartered Secretary, having worked at several FTSE listed companies. Her most recent experience was working as a consultant in share plan administration. She is studying at the University of Law for an LLM in Legal Practice with the aim to qualify under the SQE regime.
Kerishni Kundasamy
Legal Assistant (Paralegal)Kerishni is a legal assistant who works with our lawyers on all aspects of our client work. She joined us after completing a law degree at Sheffield Hallam University.
Emma Tsolchovska
Legal Assistant (Paralegal)Emma is a legal assistant who works with our lawyers on all aspects of our client work. She joined us after completing a law degree at the University of Cardiff.
Bob Grayson
Board AdviserBob leads our team, managing the global legal and tax compliance for all types of share plans, incentives and employment issues. Bob works with many of the world’s leading companies advising them on developing the best strategy for global compliance.
Bob also led on the development of Tapestry’s innovative online database, On Tap.
Bob was with Linklaters for over 10 years, living in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, doing finance work in China, Korea, Japan and Indonesia and with the Employee Incentives team in London. Prior to co-founding Tapestry, Bob was a senior in-house counsel with Shell. Bob brings practical experience and a business perspective.
Bob has also done VSO in Lesotho, Southern Africa.
Education
- Law LLB and LLM, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University
- Solicitors exams, College of Law, London
Speaking and Publications
- NASPP Annual Conference: Translating Europe with Ameriprise and Dell
- GEO Annual Conference: Global update with HSBC
Interests
Time with family and friends. Squash, climbing, sailing and ski mountaineering
Marianne Chalcraft
Board AdviserMarianne's role at Tapestry involves a range of advisory and support functions, assisting with decision-making in our fast-growing enterprise. She was trained at strategy consultants Bain and Company, and since 1998 has run her own consultancy, specialising in market intelligence. Marianne has two 1st class degrees from the University of Cambridge.
Sharon Thwaites
OnTap ManagerSharon manages our online global database, 'OnTap'. Sharon previously trained and worked at Freshfields for a number of years, and has particular expertise in advising on global legal and tax compliance for a wide range of executive and employee share plans.
Linda Bartlett
OnTap AdministratorLinda is the manager of our global database as well as working with our lawyers on all aspects of our administration and secretarial support, making sure the lawyers have the support they need to provide excellent services to our clients. Linda was formerly Group Secretary at Linklaters.
Lisa Brook
Operations ManagerLisa is the Office Manager in our Sheffield and Leeds offices. She is responsible for ensuring the office runs effectively and smoothly. Lisa was formerly a Personal Assistant and Team Co-ordinator at Pinsent Masons for 28 years.
Gabrielle Miranda
Senior Team Secretary & Cert ESP Co-ordinatorCert ESP Course Co-ordinator and Administrator. Gabby supports the Cert ESP Course we have developed and run, its dedicated website and alumni activities. Gabby also issues all our client newsletters. Gabby was formerly at Linklaters.
Jessica Cook
Team SecretaryJessica is one of our Team Secretaries and is based in our Leeds office. She previously worked for law firm Blandy & Blandy LLP in Reading. She is also a former, award winning, advanced ballroom dancer.
Ria Walker
Team SecretaryRia is one of our Team Secretaries and is based in our Sheffield office.
Sam Marks
Team SecretarySam is one of our Team Secretaries. She has a wealth of experience, having previously worked as a professional personal assistant for the incentives department at Clifford Chance for 13 years.
Nichola Preston
Senior Finance ManagerNichola is our Finance Manager and deals with all our accounts work. Nichola has worked at law firms Kennedys LLP & hlw Keeble Hawson LLP where she gained a merit studying for a Diploma with the Institute of Legal Finance and Management.
Christoper Waite
Finance ManagerChris is co-Finance Manager and looks after all aspects of the team's financial management. He trained at international law firm DLA.
Interests
Chris is kept busy by his 3 year old daughter and loves sports, particularly football, ice hockey and horse racing.
Debbie Knight
Credit ControllerDebbie is a Credit Controller with over 20 years’ experience. She previously worked for law firms Benson Clegg and Wake Smith, and also spent 19 years with the finance team at Sheffield Newspapers Limited.
Rachel Haines
Legal CashierRachel is a Legal Cashier with 30 years’ experience. She previously worked for DLA, Taylor & Emmet and BRM Law.
Her interests include travel, walking, cycling and spending time with family and friends.