Profile

Gemma is a partner and leads the housing corporate and governance team. Working primarily out of the Birmingham office, she advises a range of clients nationally including housing associations, local authorities, charities and social enterprises.

With significant experience of delivering a wide range of guidance on regulatory and charity law issues, Gemma is a ‘go to’ person for governance advice in the social housing sector. She was a contributor to the National Housing Federation’s latest version of the Model Rules, which is the sector’s most widely used constitutional document.

Gemma specialises in advising housing associations on large and frequently innovative corporate projects including mergers and acquisitions, group consolidations, joint ventures, de-mergers and stock transfers. She provides governance and strategic advice for social enterprises, housing associations, ALMOs, local authorities and charities and regularly delivers governance training to third sector organisations. With significant experience in incorporating a variety of legal structures, she acts on charitable conversions and on establishing and collapsing group structures.

Recognised as a leader in her field in the latest edition of Chambers UK, Gemma is praised for her ‘strong governance experience and expert handling of corporate transactions’ as well as her ‘great reputation in the sector’. She joined Penningtons Manches Cooper in 2020 from another leading law firm in the UK housing sector.