Semple Fraser has announced the promotion of two senior fee-earners, following a year of intensive deals activity and focus on it\'s business strategy.
Alastair Johnston has been promoted to Head of Tax after working at Semple Fraser for the past two years. He previously worked both for a \"Big 4\" accountancy firm and HM Revenue & Customs and has extensive experience in all areas of taxation including an in-depth knowledge of corporate tax planning for acquisitions and disposals, and taxation matters on property transactions including Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and VAT .
Barry Love, a member of the Waste and Extractive Industry Groups has also been promoted to Partner. This takes the number of Partners in the firm to 25. Barry is accredited as a specialist in this field by the Law Society of Scotland and is also recognised as an expert in the field of environment and pollution law. He has an LLM in European and International Environmental Law and his particular focus area is in challenging the regular misapplication of EU environmental law in the UK.
The environment group at Semple Fraser are the only Scottish firm who have been appointed to the panel of environmental law specialists retained by the European Commission, and are active on transnational and EU advisory work. Closer to home, Barry acts for a wide range of clients including WWF, Marathon Oil, OSS Group, Alfred McAlpine plc, the Kier Group and KMC Oiltools.
Alister Fraser, Managing Partner, comments \"Barry and Alastair step up at a very exciting time. Our success has been built on the principle of sticking to what we do best and concentrating on providing specialist advice for clients in our focus areas. Both Barry and Alastair have been providing our clients across the UK with expert specialist advice - whether related to increasing environmental regulation or an ever tightening tax regime. This helps us work with our clients in strategic partnership on their most pressing challenges.\"