Columban Young-Smith

An Associate in our Corporate Ventures & Innovations team working alongside Alistair Lang & Robbie Francis, Columban assists a variety of commercial clients, from established businesses looking for advice on fundraising (including SEIS and EIS), share options & commercial contracts to founders, young companies and investors who are looking for assistance in the start-up, scale-up and entrepreneurial world.

Having trained at a specialist corporate law firm in both Edinburgh and London before joining the Thorntons Ventures & Innovations team, Columban has exclusively focused on corporate and commercial work throughout his career. He greatly enjoys assisting clients with growth plans and negotiating corporate & commercial agreements. Columban is sector agnostic, but has particular experience in golf, whisky and net zero markets. He also assists clients on setting up family investment companies and liaises with employment, banking, private client and commercial property teams in delivering a full client service.

As the son of an entrepreneur, Columban is set apart from other lawyers as he understands the environment in which founders and entrepreneurs find themselves in. Combined with his City training, Columban builds on this experience to deliver sophisticated practical and commercial advice for his clients.

He is also a Scottish notary public.