Asteral hire starts ball rolling for legal capability

Managed equipment service provider Asteral has hired a project finance lawyer from Lovells, its first dedicated in-house lawyer.

Antoinette Keane, who will report to managing director David Rolfe, will work on procurement negotiations and manage relationships with law firms and banks.

"The growth [of the company] means we need a dedicated in-house function," said Rolfe. "As at July we had contracted revenue of £330m; we need a lawyer to work on these deals."

Rolfe said Asteral intends to boost the legal function over the next 12 months.

The company, formerly known as AssetCo Healthcare, previously shared an in-house lawyer with its parent company AssetCo. It lost this capability when it rebranded.

Asteral, which has clients such as the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust and the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust in its portfolio, has used Hammonds and Morgan Cole for external contract work in the past.