Top 50 UK law firm TLT has named Bristol- and London-based pensions partner Sasha Butterworth as its next senior partner, succeeding Andrew Glynn. 

Butterworth will begin her three-year term on 1 January 2023 at the end of Glynn’s sever-year tenure as senior partner, Glynn having been re-elected in 2019. 

A veteran of the firm of more than 20 years, Butterworth has been a partner at TLT since 2006 and currently heads the pensions team – a role she will continue while serving as senior partner. 

As senior partner, Butterworth will sit on TLT’s governance and oversight board and chair both the firm's remuneration and promotions committees. She will also lead its Responsible Business programme – described by the firm as a ‘key focus’ – which saw it appoint a dedicated sustainability team and the introduce a sustainability strategy underpinned by carbon emission cutting targets.

"I’m looking forward to supporting the further growth and positive impact of the firm on the wider communities in which we work,” Butterworth said. “As an employer we need to attract, support and retain talent and it’s crucial that we continue to provide opportunities to a wide and varied group of people by offering alternative training schemes to the conventional routes.”

Butterworth’s appointment as senior partner follows the firm achieveing record results during the 2021/22 financial year, when revenue grew 30% to hit £144m against a 40% rise in profit per equity partner to £840k. 

The results followed the firm putting in place a fully flexible working environment for employees, supported by a multi-million pound investment in tech platforms and offices. That helped it increase diversity in senior roles, with the firm reporting women now making up 31% of the partnership, up from 24% in 2019 and just short of its target of 33% by 2025.

The Birstol-based firm also significantly ramped up its headcount during the last financial year, adding 400 new employees including five partners, and now has more than140 partners and around 1,200 employees across six UK offices. 

One of the new arrivals was the former global head of legal services at Eversheds Sutherland’s Konexo business, Jonathan Townend, who joined TLT lin July to lead its managed legal services offering. The firm has also moved into a new sustainable office development in Glasgow called the Cadworks.

Notable deals TLT has worked on recently include advising Santander UK on a multi-million pound battery storage project in Scotland, Network Homes on its £140m acquisition by Grainger and Capital Dynamics on the £146m sale of its onshore wind portfolio to Vantage RE. The firm has also been appointed by the UK’s Department for International Trade to advise on trade deals with Canada, Mexico and India.

"Sasha will continue to drive many of the fantastic projects that Andrew has led on, to make TLT a successful and sustainable business for our people and our clients,” said Wood. “The firm has delivered a new progressive approach to working alongside an ambitious strategy in recent years and, despite the economic uncertainty in the UK, TLT has grown at pace; winning new clients, recruiting fantastic talent and leading the way in terms of wellbeing, environmental and social initiatives.”

Bristol-based Glynn, a real estate lawyer, qualified with TLT in 1985 and then worked for other firms in London before returning to the firm in the early 1990’s. Recognised by Chambers, he specialises in commercial property investment and asset management/transaction support for corporate clients and after stepping down as senior partner will return to practice and continue to co-head the firm’s public sector team.