Shakespeare Martineau strengthens finance offering for social housing and public sector with partner hire

Shakespeare Martineau has bolstered its finance offering for social housing and the public sector with the hire of Jon Coane, who joins the firm as a partner following eight years at Anthony Collins Solicitors.

Coane specialises in advising housing associations and not for profit organisations on the structuring and documentation of their funding, including bonds, private placements (UK and US), bank loan agreements, aggregators loans and social investment.

He also advises funders, local authorities, infrastructure companies, and energy companies in relation to the structuring and documentation of their debt funding, including their funding for infrastructure projects, joint ventures and other transactions.

Coane said: “I am extremely passionate about sustainability and, in particular, the creation of sustainable communities. With this in mind, I have spent a large part of my career helping with the funding of these communities, so Shakespeare Martineau’s building communities team is very inspiring and I am thrilled to be helping fulfil that vision.”

Rachel Gwynne, head of social housing at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “Jon joins the team to provide greater strength and depth to our finance offering for our social housing, public sector, and wider charity and not for profit clients, who will all benefit from his expansive experience in this specialised area of work.

“We have ambitious growth and expansion plans to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our clients. Jon’s arrival is part of the investment we are making in our social housing offering to drive forward our growth strategy.

“This enables us to work alongside our clients, providing pragmatic legal advice and innovative strategic thinking as they tackle some of society’s biggest challenges – from achieving net zero to increasing affordable housing supply – while delivering excellent landlord services to their customers.”