UK national firm Capsticks has made a double partner hire to bolster the firm’s construction expertise in contentious and non-contentious matters.

The incoming partners include Catherine Kay, who joins from Mills & Reeve, and Matthew Phipps, who joins from Bevan Brittan. Their arrival comes at a critical time when public sector infrastructure projects in the UK are under review following high inflation and muted capital spending, ahead of a crucial UK budget to be held at the end of the month.

The firm said it required additional advice to ensure its clients obtained the best value from such capital expenditures, including healthcare and the New Hospitals Programme, where the firm advises on 12 projects.

Kay brings more than 25 years of experience specialising in non-contentious construction and engineering. Her expertise spans planning and tendering of projects, letters of intent and the completion of building contracts. She has a robust background in working with construction professionals, collateral warranties, bonds and guarantees, and project funding. She will be based in the firm’s Manchester office.

Kay leaves Mills & Reeve after more than a decade, where she headed up its Manchester construction team. She had previously been with George Davies Solicitors, which merged with Mills & Reeve in 2013. She is dual-qualified in both England and Wales and New South Wales.  

Her departure was amicable, with Kay thanking her former firm on social media “for allowing me to advise and support them generally on the most amazing construction projects both in the north and nationwide”.

Phipps brings a wealth of knowledge from Bevan Brittan, where he was a legal director, and accumulated more than 15 years of experience in construction law, focusing on dispute avoidance and resolution. Known for his pragmatic approach, Phipps offers legal advice blended with industry knowledge throughout the lifecycle of building and infrastructure assets, focusing on construction adjudication. He will be based in the firm’s Birmingham office.

Phipps’s career in private practice has spanned stints at Womble Bond Dickinson, Clarke Willmott, BPE Solicitors, Royds Withy King and Wright Hassell, alongside time spent at consultants RPS Group, giving him insights into the West Midlands and South West in particular, as well as nationally.

Stephen Tainsh, partner and head of the corporate and commercial team at Capsticks, said: “With the change in government, we anticipate renewed attention on construction needs across all our sectors, such as in healthcare in the New Hospitals Programme. With Catherine and Matthew’s arrival, we are well-placed to meet those needs as go-to advisers to our clients.”

The firm’s senior partner, Rachael Heenan, added: “It has been a challenging year for our clients, with resources stretched beyond anything we have seen. As a firm, we have taken this time to strengthen our service offering, and as part of this, we are growing our team to ensure our clients know they have go-to advisors by their side so they can focus on serving their communities.”

Other recent UK construction hires include TLT adding an eight-partner team from BDB Pitmans to bolster its projects, infrastructure and construction group. Construction and engineering partner Matt Collingwood-Cooper also joined Freeths from Addleshaw Goddard.