Denise is a Legal Director with extensive experience in UK immigration, nationality law and global practice management.
Denise supports clients with sponsor licence applications and subsequent employee visa applications. She has a particular interest in working with clients to ensure their employee mobility policies are best-in-class and ensuring her clients have solid immigration compliance processes in place to protect them from Home Office enforcement action. Denise also frequently supports clients with sponsor licences through mergers, acquisitions, divestments, and business simplification projects.
Denise has lived in several countries and worked in various international organisations, not just as a qualified immigration lawyer, but also as a people and operations manager in industry. This gives her a unique perspective on issues that clients face when it comes to moving their workforce around the globe, which can often go beyond immigration considerations and include employment law, and tax and social security considerations. She combines her own experiences with pragmatic and commercially sound legal advice to support clients in reaching their business objectives. Denise is responsive and excellent at providing complex information in an easily digestible format.
Over the years Denise has also advised many high-net-worth individuals and family offices in relation to personal immigration. Denise will work with the applicant to establish the most beneficial visa route for them and their family members, which can include establishing an innovative business in the UK, obtaining a visa based on the applicant’s particular specialism within an industry, or supporting sports personalities and creative workers. Denise remains a trusted advisor to private clients until they have received their British nationality and UK passport.
Denise has represented an immigration specialist’s view in many industry events, including round table discussions with Home Office representatives. She is also a Trusted Lawyer for the Austrian Embassy in London. Being a native German speaker she is able to support businesses as well as private clients in this language if required.
Recent work highlights
Corporate restructure
Assisted a client in the food manufacturing industry with sales worth several billion GBP with dealing with the consequences of a corporate restructure. The restructure required the surrender of five existing sponsor licences within the group and re-applications for six, which were all granted.
Civil penalty notices
Assisted a number of clients in the service and food manufacturing industry with appealing civil penalty notices in the region of £40,000 to £45,000 sent by the Home Office without warning. All were overturned in their entirety after submission of a comprehensive appeal document and supporting evidence.
Skilled Worker visas and sponsor licence compliance
Advising clients across a variety of sector on multiple changes to the Skilled Worker visa category, including minimum skill levels, minimum salary levels, and English language requirements. Assisting employers to prepare for and pass Home Office audits in relation to their sponsor licence and wider sponsor compliance.
Experience & education
2022 Senior Solicitor, Head of UK Inbound Immigration and Senior Client Manager, Gherson Solicitors LLP
2020 Senior Manager, KPMG Germany; Global Immigration Manager, Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart Germany
2015 Senior Manager and Manager, KPMG UK
2012 Associate, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy
2012 Qualified as Solicitor
2010 Trainee Solicitor, Pinsent Masons
2005 Customer Service Manager and Training Coordinator, Asda Stores Limited
2002 District Manager and Non Food Coordinator, Lidl UK GmbH
2010 Legal Practice Course, Bournemouth University
2009 Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP Law School
2009 MBA, University of Southampton
2001 MA International Relations & Political Theory, University of Westminster
1999 BA (Hons) Multi-Media Journalism, Bournemouth University
