Penningtons Solicitors LLP is delighted to announce that Rika Tanaka-Blease and Penny Salmon from KPMG have accepted offers to join its immigration team. Their appointments confirm Penningtons' position as a key player in the business immigration field.
The decision by Rika, the senior manager in KPMG's immigration practice, and Penny, a manager, to move to Penningtons follows KPMG's announcement that it is withdrawing from the business immigration market and transferring its business to CMS Cameron McKenna.
Rika provides a wide range of immigration services to corporate clients of all sizes with a particular emphasis on Japanese companies. She joined KPMG in 2006 and has strong experience of team management and business development. She handles a variety of compliance work relating to the new sponsor licence and points based system as well as advising on naturalisation and applications outside the immigration rules. She liaises closely with senior officials from the UK Border Agency in her day to day work and frequently presents at external events on immigration issues. She has previously worked for Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen.
Penny has over eight years' experience of advising business immigration clients and has most recently focused on the retail, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals sector. Her specialist expertise includes co-ordinating global immigration cases for large international clients, especially in China and India, undertaking immigration audits to confirm compliance with UKBA regulations, managing applications for high intake graduate immigration programmes and liaising with policy teams within the UKBA to seek changes to the immigration rules.
These hires are the latest in a series of appointments for Penningtons' immigration team, headed by Philip Barth. Partner Nichola Carter, a leading expert on the new sponsor licence and points based system, joined the firm in December 2008. Penningtons combines a wide ranging business immigration practice with acknowledged expertise in human rights, appeals and complex cases. It has achieved top rankings in the immigration law field in both The Legal 500 and Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession, which praises its creative approach.
Commenting on Rika's and Penny's appointment, Philip Barth says: "We are delighted that Rika and Penny have chosen to join us and look forward to seeing them further develop the broad spectrum of services they offer to corporate clients within our experienced team."