15 firms make it on to Royal Mail's first post-IPO panel

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Royal Mail has completed its first post-IPO panel review, with a total of 15 firms making the cut across the UK, including firms allocated to Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Slaughter and May, which represented Royal Mail in its £3.3bn IPO last October, has secured a place on the roster, which sees the number of law firms supporting the postal company increase significantly. Other firms on the panel include Addleshaw Goddard, CMS Cameron McKenna, DLA Piper and Herbert Smith Freehills with regional firms Carson McDowell and Napier & Sons, and Morton Fraser representing Royal Mail in Northern Ireland and Scotland respectively.

Deputy general counsel Maaike de Bie and director of legal operations Sarah Barrett-Vane led the panel review for group general counsel Neil Harnby.

In a statement, de Bie said that given the breadth and variety of work across the United Kingdom, Royal Mail needed to appoint the right size and number of firms that could cater for all of its legal, corporate, regulatory and compliance work. She added that the advisory portfolio is complex and built around Royal Mail Group's national scale plus the unique legacy arising from its former state ownership.

Firms have been asked to work in partnership in a bid to embed a consistent way of working to meet the increasing demands of the business, to drive efficiency and to sponsor diversity initiatives. The diversity agenda will be led by Elizabeth Wilks-Wood, Royal Mail Group's compliance officer.

The full list of panel firms is as follows:

Addleshaw Goddard

Bristows

CMS Cameron McKenna

DAC Beachcroft

Dentons

DLA Piper

Herbert Smith Freehills

Macfarlanes

Michael Simkins

Slaughter and May

Strata Solicitors

Weightmans

Northern Ireland

Carson McDowell

Napier & Sons

Scotland

Morton Fraser