Penelope Garden

About Penelope Garden

Penelope is a Partner in the Corporate team specialising in advising clients looking to buy or sell a business or company and in advising on private equity and venture capital investments, an area which she has a particular interest as a result of her previous role working for a number of years in the private equity team of a leading city law firm.

Penelope’s clients range from small early stage business raising their first round of investment up to large multi-nationals but her core client base is owner managed small to medium sized businesses and investors. More recently she has also assisted a number of clients raising capital through the Future Fund.

Clients often commend Penelope for her excellent project management skills, efficiency and responsiveness. Penelope’s friendly and adaptable approach ensures that she builds strong, longstanding relationships with her clients who appreciate her responsiveness and tailored advice aimed at achieving the right outcome for the clients.

Transactions Penelope has recently advised upon include:

  • Investment by Bestport into Playful Promises
  • Investments by BGF into XCD HR and further investment into Invenio
  • Joint Venture between We Are Kin and Moorfield Group
  • Investment by Shackleton into Mentor Group
  • Sale of Red Insure and Everest Risk Management to AssuredPartners
  • A number of venture capital investments for the FSE Group
“I can’t thank the team enough for all their help and support, they have been absolutely fantastic. It has been great working with them and I look forward to continuing working on new deals in 2024.”
Anna Staevska, Investment Manager, The FSP Group
"Penny either delivered 'real time' verbal advice or provided concise summary information that could be acted upon easily to ensure I was well briefed and my time was leveraged. This was particularly appreciated during the time I was trying to co-ordinate the transaction at the same time as being on a family holiday."
Roy Hastings, Private Equity Finance Director
"The service from Penelope and the team at FSP was excellent and I would certainly use them again."
Nick Randall, Investor and non-executive director
"Penelope Garden and the team were superb, they provided us with a competitive price and a service second to none. We will probably only do this once in our lifetime and the team at FSP talked us through the process and held our hands throughout. I genuinely cannot see how the service could have been improved, the communication was thorough and there was a joined up approach from the team of individuals co-ordinated by Penelope."
Philip Shaul
"Penelope and her team managed our transaction with total professionalism and efficiency. From the very beginning, we set our expectations with regard to response times and Penelope and her team exceeded all of these. All of the FSP team were an absolute pleasure to deal with and provided us with a refreshing view of working with lawyers! We would have no hesitation in recommending Penelope’s expertise and management to any Company going through M&A."
Jo Andrews & Jon Hettle, Hettle Andrews
"Without Penelope's tremendous input, tenacity and overall contribution we would never have completed our deal. Penelope truly is brilliant and I hope it's not too long before we do another deal with her."
Andy Cotton, Stewarts Coaches
"It was a pleasure working with Penelope, Jeremy and the rest of the FSP team on the Cutting Edge Solutions transaction. FSP provided high quality advice that was delivered in a timely manner throughout the transaction, their proactive approach enabled us to meet a demanding timetable. We look forward to working with the FSP team again in the future."
Alex Snodgrass, BGF
"Penelope Garden delivers practical advice through a uniquely engaging style. She blends content accessibility with leading and growing a team of enthusiastic associates."
"Penelope Garden is fantastic to work with. She’s clear and concise in her communication and provides clear commercial advice. She works incredibly hard to deliver deals."
"Penelope Garden is consistently exceptional. Penny always gives coherent and holistic advice which considers all facets of a problem; obtaining her advice is so much more valuable because of it."
"Penelope Garden is an absolutely fantastic addition to our deal team. She is quick to respond, understands the problem and takes a pragmatic and sensible approach to overcoming any issues and getting the deal done. She works well with members of our team at all levels and is never too busy to help when we have a problem."
"Penelope Garden and Rachael Maunder understand our typical deal structures and know when to take pragmatic views and when to be tough."
"Penelope Garden was direct, to the point and took the trouble to explain the more complex aspects of the documents. I would recommend Penny strongly."
Legal 500 UK
"notable experience in private equity and venture capital work"
Legal 500 UK
"professional, honest and supportive"
"Penny Garden is noted for exceptional ability to manage complex deals across a number of industry sectors coupled with outstanding client care"
"She is good, personable and commercial."
"Penelope is easy to deal with and always gives great advice that's holistic and multifaceted."

"pragmatic and solution-oriented"
"she has excellent technical knowledge, she's quick to respond, she's a strong negotiator and highly effective"