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The team

We have an excellent in-house legal team backed by a strong Board and support team. We are always happy to discuss your cases.

  • Photo of Stephen Baister
    Stephen Baister Independent Non-Executive Director
    Stephen Baister Independent Non-Executive Director

    Stephen joined the Company in September 2017 as a senior adviser and was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director in November 2018. Stephen was appointed as a bankruptcy registrar (Judge) of the High Court in 1996 and as chief bankruptcy registrar in 2004, he retired in 2017. Stephen has also been consultant for Moon Beever LLP since November 2017. He has a PhD in Law and was admitted as a solicitor in 1981 and as a licensed insolvency practitioner in 1985. Stephen is a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, an honorary member of the Insolvency Lawyers Association and honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.

  • Photo of Tanya Barrett
    Tanya Barrett Associate Director
    Tanya Barrett Associate Director

    Tanya joined Manolete in July 2018. Before joining Manolete she was part of the Insolvency team at Moon Beever where she qualified as a solicitor in September 2010 and largely acted for Insolvency Practitioners. Tanya has experience of a broad range of contentious insolvency matters, including both personal and corporate insolvencies and from low value to multi-million pound claims.

  • Photo of Graham Briggs
    Graham Briggs Consultant
    Graham Briggs Consultant

    Graham joined Manolete in September 2020 as a Consultant for the Yorkshire region. Graham qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and practised for the whole of his career at the Leeds offices of Addleshaw Goddard. Graham has specialised in all aspects of insolvency law since the advent of the Insolvency Act 1986. He has long been recognised by Legal 500 as a ‘leading individual’ in the field. Graham lives locally and has a wide range of connections with the Yorkshire region.

  • Photo of Ronan Butler
    Ronan Butler Associate Director
    Ronan Butler Associate Director

    Ronan Butler is Associate Director at Manolete. He has over eleven years’ experience in complex insolvency litigation and commercial disputes. In November 2017, he joined Manolete PLC from the London Dispute Resolution Group at Hewitsons LLP. Ronan has a strong focus on contentious insolvency matters and qualified as a solicitor in January 2006.

  • Photo of Andrew Cawkwell
    Andrew Cawkwell Associate Director and Head of Business Development
    Andrew Cawkwell Associate Director and Head of Business Development

    Andrew is Associate Director covering the North East. Andrew qualified as a solicitor in 2003 and has been a partner at multi office firm Watson Burton LLP and Muckle LLP. Andrew became the first dual qualified practising solicitor and Certified Turnaround Professional accredited by the European Association of Certified Turnaround Professionals and won ‘Turnaround Practitioner of the Year’ at the 2016 TRI Awards. Andrew is a national board director of Turnaround Management Association (UK) and is a member of R3. Andrew was appointed Head of Business Development in May 2022.

  • Photo of Steven Cooklin
    Steven Cooklin Chief Executive, ACA ACSI CF
    Steven Cooklin Chief Executive, ACA ACSI CF

    Steven founded Manolete in 2009 and is Chief Executive. Steven is a Chartered Accountant having qualified at Coopers and Lybrand in 1991. Steven has over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance with National Westminster Bank, Calder Corporate Advisory Ltd and Hill Samuel Investment Bank and is a former director of HSBC Investment Bank (Corporate Finance Division). Steven is an Associate Member of The Association of Business Recovery Professionals.

  • Photo of Annie Devoy
    Annie Devoy Independent Non-Executive Director
    Annie Devoy Independent Non-Executive Director

    Annie Devoy was appointed to the Manolete Board in January 2022 as an Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. Annie is a qualified Chartered Accountant. She was a Partner at PwC from 2002 to 2020 and a member of the executive leadership team for PwC’s Tax, Legal and People Advisory services business. Previously Annie led PwC’s UK Transfer Pricing Network and was part of the firm’s Global Transfer Pricing management team. Annie retired from PwC in 2020 and remains a trustee for PwC’s legacy Defined Benefit pension funds.

  • Photo of Brett Eeles
    Brett Eeles Associate Director
    Brett Eeles Associate Director

    Brett joined Manolete in February 2022 and is based in the South West. Previously Brett trained and qualified at the international city firm Norton Rose Fulbright LLP where he worked in the dispute resolution team for six years on insolvency litigation, before moving to Foot Anstey LLP. Brett has a degree in Mandarin and Law and held a secondment in Beijing and also worked in-house at two major banks. Brett specialises in insolvency litigation, fraud and asset tracing and traditionally acts for insolvency practitioners and creditors. He has acted for clients on trials in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

  • Photo of Henry Glen
    Henry Glen Associate Director
    Henry Glen Associate Director

    Henry joined Manolete Partners PLC in January 2020. He was previously part of the Restructuring and Insolvency team at Mayer Brown International LLP. Henry qualified as a solicitor in March 2010 at Eversheds and has acted primarily for Insolvency Practitioners throughout his career on a wide variety of insolvency claims and corporate recovery matters. His practice has focused on proceedings in the Business and Property Courts, including representing claimant office holders in a multi-million pound misfeasance action. Henry has written a number of articles on insolvency law and contributed to several different restructuring publications.

  • Photo of Rachel Grant
    Rachel Grant Associate Director
    Rachel Grant Associate Director

    Rachel Grant is Associate Director for Scotland. Rachel has over 25 years of experience in insolvency law and joined Manolete from Scottish law firm Brodies LLP. Rachel has a top tier ranking and has been inducted into the Legal 500 Hall of Fame. Rachel is a member of the R3 General Technical Committee and Scottish Technical Committee (which she chaired for over ten years). She is a member and former chair of the Law Society Insolvency Accreditation Panel. She was a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Corporate, Banking and Insolvency Committee for over 20 years and represented the Law Society on the Joint Insolvency Committee.

  • Photo of Tracy Halson
    Tracy Halson Financial Controller and office manager
    Tracy Halson Financial Controller and office manager

    Tracy joined Manolete in November 2014 and acts as the Manolete Group Financial Controller and Office Manager. Tracy also provides financial support assistance on some of Manolete’s cases.

  • Photo of Mena Halton
    Mena Halton Managing Director
    Mena Halton Managing Director

    Mena qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and joined Manolete in 2014 - she has specialised in contentious insolvency throughout her career. Mena is recognised for insolvency litigation funding in the Chambers and Partners Litigation Support Guide 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 where contributors say: “Her involvement from a legal perspective is invaluable.” “She is superb - a safe pair of hands, very competent and approachable. She knows the law and which direction she wants the case to take.” “I go directly to Mena with a new opportunity because the relationship is already there. Had a great multimillion-dollar result. Satisfactory all around. An excellent operative, very much at the top of her game, she keeps the wheels of the machine well oiled. Truly professional, very focused and very commercial." “She is frighteningly astute, does not mess around and gets straight to the point. Really fantastic. Head and shoulders above other operators in the market”. "She has an incredible intellect, and a real force and determination to get to the right result." “Mena’s knowledge of all types of insolvency litigation is exemplary and she is able to assess the merits of a case and identify further areas of investigation with ease”. Mena is included in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Third Party Funding 2020 and 2021.

  • Photo of Kelly Jordan
    Kelly Jordan Associate Director
    Kelly Jordan Associate Director

    Kelly is an Associate Director based in the North East and joined Manolete in September 2022. She works predominantly within our business development function. She is an experienced lawyer specialising in all aspects of restructuring and insolvency matters. Previously Kelly was a Partner at a prominent regional law firm in the North East as well as at a top 20 firm. She is recognised by Legal 500 as a leading individual and is ranked in Chambers and Partners. In 2012, Kelly completed a secondment to The Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group. Kelly is a member of R3 and sits on the North East Regional Committee and is currently the vice chair for the region.

  • Photo of Alison Kirby
    Alison Kirby Associate Director
    Alison Kirby Associate Director

    Alison Kirby is Associate Director for the Eastern region and has over 20 years of experience as a solicitor in all aspects of insolvency and corporate recovery law. Previously she was a partner with Howes Percival LLP heading their dispute resolution and insolvency team in Norwich, with particular expertise in contentious insolvency usually acting for the office holder. Alison led the team at Howes Percival acting for HMRC for 5 years and had a number of cases reported which relate to insolvency and commercial litigation. She has been recognised in the Legal 500 top tier for both categories of insolvency and dispute resolution. In May 2020 Alison was also appointed a Deputy District Judge to the Midlands Circuit. Alison is an associate member of R3. Alison’s focus is on the East of England insolvency market and she is based in Norfolk.

  • Photo of Lord Leigh of Hurley
    Lord Leigh of Hurley Non-Executive Chairman
    Lord Leigh of Hurley Non-Executive Chairman

    Howard Leigh is a qualified Chartered Accountant. In 1988 he set up Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP where he remains Senior Partner. In 2000, Howard was appointed as the Chairman of the Faculty of Corporate Finance of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In 2008 he was awarded the Faculty’s Outstanding Achievement in Corporate Finance award. In 2018, Cavendish merged with finnCap and the new group – finnCap Group plc – was listed on the London AIM market. He is the Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party and chairs four charities. In 2013, Howard was elevated to the Peerage as Lord Leigh of Hurley. He joined the Manolete Board in June 2021.

  • Photo of Rachel Lindley-Janes
    Rachel Lindley-Janes Associate Director - Finance
    Rachel Lindley-Janes Associate Director - Finance

    Rachel joined Manolete in January 2022 as Associate Director – Finance. She began her career in the Grant Thornton audit team and qualified with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 2015. Rachel has since held positions for several PLC and private businesses working across sectors including FMCG, Waste and Marketing.

  • Photo of Charlotte May
    Charlotte May Associate Director
    Charlotte May Associate Director

    Charlotte is Regional Associate Director, based primarily in the South West and Wales. She is experienced in complex commercial disputes with specialist expertise in property, negligence and insolvency. Charlotte qualified as a solicitor in 2009. In December 2018, Charlotte joined Manolete from national firm Burges Salmon LLP where she worked on high profile retail and property insolvencies. Charlotte is an Associate Member of R3, INSOL Europe and Women in Property.

  • Photo of Jerusha Samy
    Jerusha Samy Administrative Assistant
    Jerusha Samy Administrative Assistant

    Jerusha is assistant to the Financial Controller. She joined Manolete in October 2019 as a financial researcher for some of Manolete’s cases. She graduated in Law with Business and previously worked as a Legal Assistant at BTMK Marcus Baum.

  • Photo of Jeremy Sare
    Jeremy Sare Marketing and Policy Consultant
    Jeremy Sare Marketing and Policy Consultant

    Jeremy has worked for Manolete since 2015 responsible for Government policy, marketing and media communications. He worked for the Home Office for 15 years, advising ministers and senior officials on policy matters. In 2007, Jeremy gained a post-graduate Diploma in journalism and has been published across several national titles. He has helped a variety of companies develop policy and effectively manage their media exposure. Jeremy also acts as the Company’s Information Officer.

  • Photo of Neil Stewart
    Neil Stewart Associate Director
    Neil Stewart Associate Director

    Neil is a Regional Associate Director based in the South of England. Since qualifying as a solicitor in 1998, Neil has specialised in commercial dispute resolution and contentious insolvency. He is an experienced advocate who previously worked for Versiona Law Solicitors. Neil has considerable experience of working on complex, frequently multi-party litigation. He is an accredited mediator, an R3 council member and has lectured widely on insolvency matters.

  • Photo of Mark Tavener
    Mark Tavener Chief Financial Officer
    Mark Tavener Chief Financial Officer

    Mark Tavener joined Manolete as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Board Director on 7 October 2019. Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience. The core of Mark's career has been with Deloitte in London in Audit and Corporate Finance. He also served a secondment period within Government. Following his time with Deloitte, Mark was appointed Finance Director of a FinTech start-up company IPSX. Most recently, Mark has been a Director in the RSM due diligence team leading diligence on financial services businesses in the mid-market.

  • Photo of Amanda Twohey
    Amanda Twohey Financial Research Analyst
    Amanda Twohey Financial Research Analyst

    Amanda joined Manolete in Autumn 2018. Amanda is a Financial Research Analyst in our Net Worth team.

  • Photo of Dominic Vincent
    Dominic Vincent Associate Director
    Dominic Vincent Associate Director

    Dominic Vincent is Associate Director for the North West. Dominic has over 20 years of experience as a solicitor in all aspects of insolvency and corporate recovery law. In private practice he was a partner with Weightmans solicitors and most recently helped establish the legal practice of a national insolvency and restructuring group. He has been recognised in Chambers as a notable practitioner and in the Legal 500 for both personal and corporate insolvency. Dominic is a member of R3 and the Insolvency Lawyers’ Association. He has had numerous articles and pieces published in various legal and national publications and journals. Dominic’s focus is on the northern insolvency market and he is based in Manchester.

  • Photo of Alexandra Withers
    Alexandra Withers Associate Director
    Alexandra Withers Associate Director

    Alexandra Withers is an Associate Director for the North East region and has a decade of experience in all aspects of insolvency law. Previously she was an associate solicitor at a commercial firm in Newcastle upon Tyne where she specialised in contentious insolvency. She is recognised in the Legal 500 as a Rising Star in the field of insolvency and corporate recovery, as well as a Key Lawyer in the field of commercial litigation. In 2021 Alexandra was appointed to sit part-time as a Deputy District Judge and an Employment Tribunal Judge. She is also the current chair of R3 North East. Alexandra is based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

  • Photo of Bernadette Young
    Bernadette Young Company Secretary
    Bernadette Young Company Secretary

    Bernadette is Manolete’s independent Company Secretary. Bernadette qualified as a Chartered Secretary in 1994 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA). Having spent around 15 years in in-house company secretarial roles, Bernadette established her own consultancy business, Chadwick Corporate Consulting in 2005, specialising in providing company secretarial and corporate governance services. She is the author of The ICSA Corporate Governance Handbook.

  • Photo of Lord Leigh of Hurley
    Lord Leigh of Hurley Non-Executive Chairman
    Lord Leigh of Hurley Non-Executive Chairman

    Howard Leigh is a qualified Chartered Accountant. In 1988 he set up Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP where he remains Senior Partner. In 2000, Howard was appointed as the Chairman of the Faculty of Corporate Finance of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). In 2008 he was awarded the Faculty’s Outstanding Achievement in Corporate Finance award. In 2018, Cavendish merged with finnCap and the new group – finnCap Group plc – was listed on the London AIM market. He is the Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party and chairs four charities. In 2013, Howard was elevated to the Peerage as Lord Leigh of Hurley. He joined the Manolete Board in June 2021.

  • Photo of Steven Cooklin
    Steven Cooklin Chief Executive, ACA ACSI CF
    Steven Cooklin Chief Executive, ACA ACSI CF

    Steven founded Manolete in 2009 and is Chief Executive. Steven is a Chartered Accountant having qualified at Coopers and Lybrand in 1991. Steven has over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance with National Westminster Bank, Calder Corporate Advisory Ltd and Hill Samuel Investment Bank and is a former director of HSBC Investment Bank (Corporate Finance Division). Steven is an Associate Member of The Association of Business Recovery Professionals.

  • Photo of Mark Tavener
    Mark Tavener Chief Financial Officer
    Mark Tavener Chief Financial Officer

    Mark Tavener joined Manolete as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Board Director on 7 October 2019. Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience. The core of Mark's career has been with Deloitte in London in Audit and Corporate Finance. He also served a secondment period within Government. Following his time with Deloitte, Mark was appointed Finance Director of a FinTech start-up company IPSX. Most recently, Mark has been a Director in the RSM due diligence team leading diligence on financial services businesses in the mid-market.

  • Photo of Mena Halton
    Mena Halton Managing Director
    Mena Halton Managing Director

    Mena qualified as a solicitor in 1985 and joined Manolete in 2014 - she has specialised in contentious insolvency throughout her career. Mena is recognised for insolvency litigation funding in the Chambers and Partners Litigation Support Guide 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 where contributors say: “Her involvement from a legal perspective is invaluable.” “She is superb - a safe pair of hands, very competent and approachable. She knows the law and which direction she wants the case to take.” “I go directly to Mena with a new opportunity because the relationship is already there. Had a great multimillion-dollar result. Satisfactory all around. An excellent operative, very much at the top of her game, she keeps the wheels of the machine well oiled. Truly professional, very focused and very commercial." “She is frighteningly astute, does not mess around and gets straight to the point. Really fantastic. Head and shoulders above other operators in the market”. "She has an incredible intellect, and a real force and determination to get to the right result." “Mena’s knowledge of all types of insolvency litigation is exemplary and she is able to assess the merits of a case and identify further areas of investigation with ease”. Mena is included in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Third Party Funding 2020 and 2021.

  • Photo of Stephen Baister
    Stephen Baister Independent Non-Executive Director
    Stephen Baister Independent Non-Executive Director

    Stephen joined the Company in September 2017 as a senior adviser and was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director in November 2018. Stephen was appointed as a bankruptcy registrar (Judge) of the High Court in 1996 and as chief bankruptcy registrar in 2004, he retired in 2017. Stephen has also been consultant for Moon Beever LLP since November 2017. He has a PhD in Law and was admitted as a solicitor in 1981 and as a licensed insolvency practitioner in 1985. Stephen is a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, an honorary member of the Insolvency Lawyers Association and honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management.

  • Photo of Annie Devoy
    Annie Devoy Independent Non-Executive Director
    Annie Devoy Independent Non-Executive Director

    Annie Devoy was appointed to the Manolete Board in January 2022 as an Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. Annie is a qualified Chartered Accountant. She was a Partner at PwC from 2002 to 2020 and a member of the executive leadership team for PwC’s Tax, Legal and People Advisory services business. Previously Annie led PwC’s UK Transfer Pricing Network and was part of the firm’s Global Transfer Pricing management team. Annie retired from PwC in 2020 and remains a trustee for PwC’s legacy Defined Benefit pension funds.

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