Our Team
All our senior team have trained with top global legal and accountancy firms.
Janet Cooper OBE
PartnerFRSA, FCIPD, FCSA
Janet was awarded an OBE in the 2017 Queen's New Year's Honours for "Services to Equality, Women's Empowerment and Employee Share Ownership".
Janet specialises in all aspects of global executive, employee share plans and incentives, with a focus on advising many of the global banks.
Before co-founding Tapestry, Janet developed the global incentives team at Linklaters and was its global practice head for 20 years.
Janet was honoured by the employee share ownership industry – receiving ProShare’s inaugural award for 'Services to Share Plans' in 2015 and receiving GEO’s 'Pioneer Award' in 2011.
Appointments
- AFME: Legal adviser to the Remuneration working group on Association in Financial Markets in Europe
- Global Equity Organisation: Co-founder and board member
- ProShare: Board member
- Share Schemes Advanced Studies Group: Co-founder and member
- In addition to these industry appointments, Janet is:
- RNLI: Trustee of the Royal National Lifeboats Institution
- Roehampton University: Council member
Education
- Law LLB, Leeds University
- Solicitors exams, College of Law Chester
- Senior Leadership, Harvard
- Corporate Finance, London Business School
Speaking and publications
- Directors' Remuneration (1995) published by Tolley's
- Proshare 2017 Annual Conference:
- keynote panel on gender pay with Helene Reardon Bond OBE and Ann Govier from Marks & Spencer
- GEO 2017 annual conference:
- with Aviva on their global employee plan; and
- with Worldpay, SABMiller and Neoreward on developments in executive incentives
- GEO 2018: speaking on gender and diversity considerations in share plans
Interests
Human rights has always been a passion. Walking, cycling and spending time with family and friends.
Bob Grayson
PartnerBob 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 2017 annual conference: Translating Europe with Ameriprise and Dell
- GEO 2017 annual conference: Global update with HSBC
Interests
Time with family and friends. Squash, climbing, sailing and ski mountaineering.
Hannah Needle FGE
Legal Director and Head of Leeds OfficeHannah 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
Award Fellowship of the Global Equity Organisation in 2019
Share Plan Lawyers Group: Corporate and Regulatory Committee
GEO: Partner Alliance Council
Education
BA Law with French, Sheffield University (one year at the Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis)
Legal Practice Certificate, Sheffield University
Speaking and publications
- Global updates for 2018 at the GEO UK Chapter meeting on 7 February 2018
- Gender Pay Gap at the Share Plan Lawyers Group event in February 2018
- Global tax-qualified plans at the GEO Annual Conference in Orlando in April 2018.
Interests
Reading, going to Spas and champagne - preferably at the same time! Loves spending time with family.
James Glover
Practice DirectorJames is our Practice Director and works with us to make sure we work effectively and efficiently to continue to deliver to all of our clients at the highest level. He is a City-trained lawyer who has worked in senior and leadership roles both as a General Counsel and as an executive, most recently at one of the UK’s largest health insurers.
Appointments
Trustee Board Member of Steel City Schools Partnership, a multi-academy trust in Sheffield.
Education
Law LLB - University of Manchester
Solicitors exams - College of Law, York
Open Executive Programmes in Innovation Management and Leadership - Cranfield School of Management
Corporate Affairs Academy programme, Said Business School, University of Oxford
Speaking and publications
James has spoken and contributed to articles on leadership, corporate affairs and governance issues for a variety of audiences during his career.
Interests
Road cycling (taking part, spectating and marshalling), playing lead guitar and all kinds and genres of music.
Jessica Mitchell
Senior AssociateJess has over 12 years' experience specialising in legal and tax due diligence for international share plans. Jess has worked and is qualified in both the UK and Australia, and is currently our local lead in Australia. Jess advises companies across all sectors, including financial services where she works with a number of global banks.
She is involved in the key Australian share plan organisations - Employee Ownership Australia and the Sydney/Melbourne chapters of the GEO.
Jess joined Tapestry when we founded in 2011 and had previously been in the employee incentives team at Linklaters for over five years.
Education
Bachelor of Law (LLB - Hons), University of Queensland
Bachelor of Arts (BA - French and Spanish), University of Queensland
Speaking and publications
Jess has presented and contributed to:
- GEO Sydney and Melbourne conferences;
- Employee Ownership Australia webinars; and
- Computershare employee share plan publications.
Interests
Reading, seeing friends and family, and looking after a very active pair of boys!
Chris Fallon
Senior AssociateWith 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.
Sarah Ferguson
Senior AssociateSarah has considerable experience in advising on the share plan and wider incentive aspects of corporate transactions and has advised on some of the largest and most notable deals to date, including a number of high-profile IPOs and joint venture arrangements. Her focus is advising on the legal, regulatory and tax aspects of the establishment and operation of UK tax-advantaged plans and executive plans, as well as related employee benefit trusts.
Sarah joined us having previously worked at Clifford Chance for 4 years and then Slaughter and May for 2 years.
Appointments
ProShare: Tax-Advantaged Share Schemes Group
Share Plans Lawyers Group: Tax Committee and tax manual review group
Education
Law and Classics, Christ’s College, University of Cambridge
Graduate studies in Classics, Yale University
Legal Practice Certificate, London Moorgate College of Law
Speaking and publications
LexisNexis publication in 2014: Share incentives in quoted companies - takeovers by scheme of arrangement.
Interests
Hiking and snowshoe-ing – all over - including in the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian fjords, the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, New Zealand, the Canadian Rockies and, of course, the Yorkshire Dales!
Travel, Pilates, yoga, swimming and, at home, gardening, crafting, reading and baking.
Sharon Thwaites
OnTap DirectorSharon 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.
Sally Blanchflower
Managing AssociateSally is a Managing 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 leads on a number of our large global clients such as HSBC, Aviva, Weir Group, Trimble and Trip Advisor. Sally teaches on the UK’s ICSA Certificate in Employee Share Plans, delivers in-house 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
GEO 2017 annual conference:
- with Aviva on their new global employee plan;
- with HSBC and Brambles on global updates.
Sally has also presented at other GEO and ProShare annual conferences, webinars, administrator and industry events, and teaches on the Tapestry ICSA Employee Share Plans Course, Summer School and Alumni events.
Interests
Travel, netball, yoga and climbing.
Lorna Parkin
Managing 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 and deferred bonus arrangements. 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.
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
2016 NASPP annual conference presenting with Dell and Ameriprise on "Understanding Europe".
ProShare 2016 with Shell on "Do you speak English?".
GEO 2017 annual conference with Rolls-Royce and IPF on "The impact of increased regulation on global all-employee stock plans".
Interests
Yoga, gym, travel.
Carla Walsham
Managing AssociateCarla is an experienced lawyer specialising in UK and global remuneration regulations for financial services firms. She also works with companies like Unilever on their global compliance for their share plans. Carla trained as a lawyer at London City law firm Lawrence Graham.
Education
Law LLB, Exeter University
Legal Practice Course, Kaplan Law School - London
Speaking and publications
Carla has presented at many industry events including GEO, NASPP, ProShare and Employee Benefits Annual Conference.
Carla is the Co-Course Co-ordinator for the Tapestry ICSA Employee Share Plans Course.
Carla speaks on our FS Remuneration training and roundtables.
Interests
Netball, family.
Emma Parker
Managing AssociateEmma has significant experience in advising on UK tax-advantaged plans and has a broad corporate and employment tax background. Emma advises on the establishment of employee share plans, plan rule drafting, and reviewing the legal and tax aspects of plan awards. Emma joined us from Pinsent Masons.
Education
Law LLB, University of Hull
Legal Practice Course, College of Law (now University of Law)
Speaking and Publications
Co-Course Co-ordinator of Tapestry's Employee Share Plans course.
Interests
Travel and literature.
Steve Penfold
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
AssociateMatthew specialises in all aspects of global incentive arrangements with a focus on the financial services sector. Matthew 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
The Executive Remuneration Review - EU Overview, 4th (2015), 5th (2016) and 6th (2017) Editions.
Matthew speaks on our FS Remuneration training events and roundtables.
Interests
Tennis, politics and technology
Rebecca Campsall
AssociateRebecca advises 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. Rebecca is also an elite athlete who has represented England in the 100 metres over the last two years.
Education
Law and Criminology LLB, University of Sheffield
Legal Practice Course, University of Sheffield
Interests
Athletics - Rebecca is an elite athlete specialising in 100m. Rebecca has represented England and achieved two national medals whilst working at Tapestry and is aiming to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Tom Parker
AssociateTom works on global legal and tax compliance projects. Tom joined our legal team having previously worked at Addleshaw Goddard.
Education
Law LLB, University of York
Interests
Keen badminton player and gym goer.
Emilie Sylvester
Legal AssistantEmilie works with our lawyers in our Sheffield office with a focus on executive incentive plans 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
Interests
Food, Photography, Technology and Travel.
Lewis Dulley
Legal AssistantLewis works with our lawyers 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 AssistantOlivia 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 AssistantRichard 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.
Shirley Cooper (FCIPS, FRSA)
Commercial DirectorShirley advises us on strategy, IT and procurement. Shirley was previously procurement and supply chain director for a UK listed IT company. Shirley has been the President of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, and is a Fellow of CIPS.
Appointments
Shirley has a number of non-executive appointments, including:
- Ministry of Justice: Non-executive Director
- UNWomen UK: Treasurer and board member
- Chairman of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Fellows
She has been a long-standing champion for women for many years, including founding Blueprint Club to support women in procurement, board member of International Women's Forum UK, executive director of WE Connect International and board member.
Education
Qualified Accountant
MBA, University of Bradford
Harvard
Marianne Chalcraft
Strategy DirectorMarianne'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.
Verity Mowat
Marketing ManagerVerity is our Marketing Manager. Verity previously worked with Janet at Linklaters in marketing and business development, has also worked for Marks and Spencer plc in marketing finance and, more recently, as a Client Manager at Schroders Asset Management.
Christoper Waite
Co-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.
Nichola Preston
Co-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.
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.
Linda Bartlett
OnTap ManagerLinda 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.
Gabrielle Miranda
ICSA ManagerICSA Cert esp Course Manager and Administrator. Gabby supports the ICSA Course we have developed and run, its dedicated website and alumni activities. Gabby also issues all our client newsletters. Gabby was formerly at Linklaters.
Lisa Brook
Office 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.
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.