Leading finance lawyer Anna Vangrove has joined the national banking and finance team of law firm Shoosmiths as a partner in its fast-growing Belfast office.

Anna, rated as a “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 and “Up and Coming” by Chambers, will play a key role in delivering the firm’s growth plan in Northern Ireland alongside experienced M&A partner Mark Davis who joined in late 2020 to build a corporate team in Belfast. Anna will work closely with Michael Kelly, principal associate who has also recently joined the firm’s Belfast team.

Joining from TLT, where she spent six years and was latterly the joint head of its Belfast banking and finance team, Anna is regarded as one of the leading banking partners in Northern Ireland. She specialises in real estate finance and energy finance, expertise which is highly complementary to the firm’s focus on energy and development projects.

Rebecca Mauleverer, national head of Shoosmiths’ banking practice, said: “The addition of Anna Vangrove to our leading national banking and finance practice takes us to an eleven strong partner team with over forty legal advisers. We can now cover transactions spanning England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland seamlessly, be they real estate finance, asset based lending, leveraged finance, general corporate lending or bespoke asset finance.

“Anna is an energetic and ambitious banking partner with a proven track record for winning work and developing strong client relationships. Her strong real estate finance (REF) and energy finance experience and wide network of relationships in the finance community make her ideally placed to support the growth of both our real estate and corporate practices in Northern Ireland as well as our banking and finance practice nationally.”

Anna has previously delivered a keynote session on SME lending at the UK Finance Festival which was held in the city.