Manchester’s hugely anticipated new restaurant, Skof, has praised the support from legal advisors at Knights as it completes its opening.

The restaurant in the city’s iconic Hanover building in NOMA is the first solo venture of Simon Rogan protégé Tom Barnes.

Skof brings a farm-to-table ethos to Manchester city centre, focusing on great quality ingredients, putting a smile on people's faces and creating an 'unpretentious yet ambitious' dining experience.

Tom spent 12 years at Rogan’s renowned UMBEL Restaurants – winning the Great British Menu in 2020 – and was Executive Chef at L’Enclume in the Lake District when it won its third Michelin Star in 2023.

A specialist and wide-ranging team at Knights, the UK’s largest regional legal services business, helped get the restaurant ready for opening. The team secured Skof’s lease, all licenses for the venue and provided corporate, commercial, employment, financing, and intellectual property advice.

This was followed by advice on strategic partnership from venue management company ASM Global –building on the culinary partnership with Rogan and UMBEL Group launched earlier this year at Manchester’s AO Arena – plus commercial advice on how the collaboration between the two brands will work.

Sam Ward, Managing Director of UMBEL Restaurant Group, said:

“We’re delighted to have been able to support Tom in opening his first solo project. Opening restaurants in cities like Manchester is a complex and multi faceted process and we’ve been ably assisted by the various departments across Knights.”

Knights’ team was led by Partners David Roberts, Jonathan Edwards, Karen Procter, Rebecca Moore, Stephen Crook with support from others across the business.

“It was a pleasure to be involved in this exciting project with Tom and the team at Umbel which sees the conversion of a beautiful historic building in Manchester to a high quality restaurant. I am sure that they will have great success and that their skill and talent will lead the way in establishing Manchester as a fine dining destination”

With 23 offices nationwide, Knights is ranked within the top 50 UK law firms by revenue – providing multiple services to business clients alongside premium advisory services to private individuals.