Jonathan
Garnett
A highly accomplished lawyer and commercial advisor across a diverse range of industries; transactionally focused with a sharp commercial acumen.
Jonathan is a true multi-disciplinary professional advisor; having a background as a highly experienced lawyer but also performing more commercial role with a diverse range of businesses.
Having spent a decade working as a commercial lawyer in private practice (Eversheds Sutherland, Walker Morris), Jonathan then transferred to a senior in-house counsel role for VocaLink (now part of Mastercard) engaged on its procurement and development of the switching infrastructure which sits at the heart of the UK Faster Payments Service.
In 2010, as a very accomplished technology and commercial lawyer, Jonathan established his own niche legal consultancy with an emphasis on providing commercially focused legal advice to clients operating in the technology sector or who are reliant on purchasing technology to operate their business. The foundation of his consultancy was simple:
“Assisting businesses achieve their commercial objectives within a legal framework which is understood, designed to complement the objectives, and focused on striking the right balance between risk mitigation and opportunity generation.”
At the core of his business, Jonathan spent a decade acting as senior legal counsel for a number of high profile corporate clients in the international gambling sector.
Outside of the UK gambling sector, Jonathan has accumulated a wealth of experience advising SME to FTSE100 corporates in a diverse range of industries: manufacturing, construction, liquor and spirits, engineering, high street retail, digital payments, and motorsport. Jonathan has effectively performed the role of senior legal counsel to the businesses he works with by either supporting an established in-house legal team or acting as general counsel to businesses that have no in-house legal function.
As a natural extension to his legal practice, Jonathan has also gained experience working closely with executive management teams to help navigate and shape the operational environment of their businesses; not simply from a purely transactional point of view, but also helping to inform strategic and commercial thinking supporting operational and growth strategies e.g. establishing international distributorship networks, franchise models, etc. One such example is that Jonathan has worked with a start-up manufacturer of luxury outdoor furniture under the brand Extreme Lounging since 2012; when the brand had one product line. Today, the brand has expanded five core product lines and is targeted to achieve a turnover approaching £3m for the current financial year and sells through a distributorship network to multiple countries across the world.
Its not all work though. Jonathan maintains an (un)healthy work-life balance by racing superbikes and keeps fit on the moors on his mountain bike.