Niall Daws is a senior corporate and finance solicitor who advises lenders, investors, and growth‑stage businesses on complex aviation, banking, finance, and commercial matters.
With over 15 years’ experience across private practice and in‑house roles, Niall has acted for domestic and international clients on aircraft and asset finance, structured and leveraged finance, real estate finance, and asset‑backed lending matters.
He began his practice in aircraft and asset finance, advising lenders, lessors, and operators on multi‑jurisdictional transactions, structured facilities, and leasing arrangements. Over time, his work has expanded into broader corporate and finance mandates, including real estate finance, leveraged finance, fund / venture / private equity finance, trade finance (including reverse factoring) and asset‑backed lending (including aircraft, luxury goods/assets, shipping/yachts and domestic and international real estate), and with a focus on the finance, tech and energy sectors.
Niall also brings significant in‑house experience from specialist investment and wealth management groups, where he broadened his practice to include funds management, financial regulation, data protection, and corporate advisory work, often acting as sole transactional counsel to trading businesses and investment vehicles on complex cross-border matters.
He is known for clear, pragmatic advice, strong client relationships, and for an ability to navigate complex regulatory and transactional landscapes with confidence and clarity. Clients value his calm, collaborative approach and his ability to translate technical issues into accessible, actionable guidance.
Niall builds long‑term, trusted relationships with clients by delivering clear, adaptive, commercially grounded legal advice across corporate, finance, and regulatory matters.
Niall’s recent matters include:
- Advising a Luxembourg based venture capital trust (VCT) on various commercial venture debt transactions including the £10m term loan facility to a growth-stage UK headquartered grocery/food retailer and the amendment, restatement and extension of a £15m facility to a UK based fintech/digital infrastructure group.
- Advising the tech sector portfolio companies of a UK based VCT on their entry into debt facilities to help increase capital liquidity and drive innovation.
- Advising a PE backed international green energy group on their expansion into the United Kingdom and on discrete finance and security related matters.
- Advising a high-net-worth client (HNW) and his personal attorneys on discrete matters relating to the leveraging and sale of his property portfolio.
Historic matters include:
- Establishing a new £100m+ purpose driven fund for a UK investment manager to enable collective investments in green energy and
- Developing a defensive capital fund for an international wealth management group including advising on and maintaining the fund’s investment management documents and prospectus.
- Advising an ultra HNW client on the management and chartering of his private AW139 helicopter and then the subsequent sale, de-registration and transfer of the helicopter.
- Drafting and maintaining the commercial lending documentation (including finance and security documents) for a UK high street bank.
- Acting on the sale of a $1.3bn equity stake in their primary portfolio companies (then the world’s largest commercial operator of helicopters).
- Acting on the purchase, leasing and transfer of a portfolio of aircraft (both rotary and fixed wing) across more than 100 jurisdictions.