Rachael Watkins

Senior Associate - Corporate Law

"I am a corporate lawyer with a particular focus on advising those clients within the healthcare sector”

I am a senior associate in the corporate law team within the business services department.

After joining Higgs LLP in 2017, I spent 5 years within the business succession planning team focusing on providing owner managed businesses with advice on their business future succession planning and documenting arrangements to meet their requirements, including what should happen to the business in the event of the shareholders demise or structuring enabling shares to be passed down to the future generation. Work included drafting shareholders’ agreements, articles of association and cross option agreements.

In late 2022, I made the transition to the corporate transactional team with a particular focus on health and social care where compliance is of particular importance. My experience includes advising on the sales and purchases of nurseries, children’s homes, care homes and assisted living. I advise on a mixture of share and asset deals.

  • Assisting on various matters for the Old Station Nursery, acquiring a number of nurseries with various sites supporting the growth of the Company.
  • I have recently acted for:
  • a corporate buyer with their purchase of 2 care homes, both asset deals;
  • sellers on an asset deal selling 2 mental health care homes;
  • a number of sellers on the share sales of residential care homes; and
  • a seller on the sale of a nursery with a single site to a corporate buyer.

More about me

Favourite food

Chinese

Interests

Baking

Childhood career goal

Barrister in criminal law

Interesting fact

Completed the 3 peaks challenge and ran a half marathon in 2018

“Higgs LLP is roundly praised for its ‘experienced, knowledgeable and commercially focussed’ corporate practice, which works closely with the firm’s tax and private client teams on big-ticket transactions for owner-managed businesses and household names alike.”

Legal 500