Matthew always ‘gets it!’ He’s commercial when needed and his advice is always sound, appropriate and tailored to the culture and type of organisation. I have complete faith in him.’

Legal 500 [UK 2025]

Work Synopsis

Matthew qualified as a solicitor at a firm in the city in 1995, joined Prettys in 1997 and became a partner in 2002. He specialises in Employment Law, and also Data Protection and Information Security Law. Matthew primarily works with larger corporates, public sector organisations and third sector organisations on a variety of people-related issues, as well as helping them navigate through the increasingly important areas of privacy law, data protection and confidential information. He regularly provides training and workshops on a variety of subjects. Matthew is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and International Bar Association and has contributed the UK chapters of the American Bar Association’s Global Guide to Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets in Employment Law. He is also a member of the Corporation at Suffolk New College.

Recent Work

  • Advising a FTSE-listed company on a large-scale redundancy and restructuring exercise
  • Advising an overseas-based multi-national on its establishment and incorporation in the UK, together with on-going advice and assistance on numerous legal issues as they have further expanded in the UK and Europe
  • Advising a biotech company on the termination of employment of a director seconded to the UK and employed by an overseas subsidiary
  • Various projects for a range of organisations helping them comply with the General Data Protection Regulation

Expertise

  • Contracts of employment and service agreements
  • Employment disputes
  • Remuneration, incentives and benefits
  • Pensions
  • Redundancies and restructuring
  • Business transfers
  • Outsourcing, insourcing and service provision changes
  • Confidentiality and business protection
  • Employee surveillance and monitoring
  • Data transfer agreements
  • Data breaches
  • Individual data rights
  • Subject access requests

Testimonials

“Matthew is always very knowledgeable and obviously commercially aware when we interact. He has a great reputation in the local market and I feel very safe when he is dealing with any issues we have.”

Chambers UK 2025 Guide

Matthew Cole Suffolk Chambers top ranked in 2025