Sarah Wimsett has joined Capsticks to lead an Employment & Pensions team in the firm’s rapidly growing Exeter office.

Her appointment as Legal Director strengthens the firm’s offering in the busy healthcare sector and their employment law expertise in the South West.

Capsticks opened their sixth office last July with an initial focus on responding to a local need for experienced lawyers to advise on public sector projects, contracts and procurement matters – but the firm also works closely with many healthcare clients in the region.

Sarah will be helping to deliver this work. She is an employment law specialist who advises on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment and HR matters. With extensive experience advising in the health and care sector, she regularly advises on: complex tribunal claims including high profile discrimination and whistleblowing claims, maintaining high professional standards processes, high value settlement negotiations, NHS workforce terms and conditions, and trade union and industrial relations matters. She also advises on restructures, redundancies and day-to-day employment matters.

In 2022, she was listed as an ‘Associate to Watch’ in Chambers with clients praising her responsiveness, the depth of her knowledge and her commitment.

Managing Partner Elect Victoria Watson, who is head of the firm’s Employment & Pensions team, said: “I’m excited to welcome Sarah as she joins our thriving Employment & Pensions practice and builds our presence in the South West through our growing Exeter office. Being close to the communities that we work with and to our clients who provide essential services is important to us – Sarah’s commitment to the work that we do and to the legal community in that region presents us with a really exciting opportunity to grow our South West team. Her impressive knowledge base and experience advising clients in the health and care sector on some of their most complex employment matters will further strengthen our deep sector expertise and ensure we’re well-placed to continue supporting our clients to deliver results that matter.”

Senior Partner, Rachael Heenan, said: “We are always ambitious to develop our business more widely in the healthcare sector, but we want this growth to be smart. Welcoming Sarah into our expanding Exeter office is an important step as we look to work more closely with our valued clients specifically in the South West. An experienced practitioner in her field, she will be building her team and providing opportunities for people to learn from her.”

Capsticks aims to be the firm of choice for organisations who work to make a difference. Our purpose is to be the legal advisers that clients want by their side, providing innovative and practical solutions tailored to our sectors’ unique challenges. Our lawyers work together as one team with the same values: putting people first, doing the right thing and always forward thinking.