A LAW firm with offices in the North-East has been appointed to a pension provider's legal panel.

Bond Dickinson, which has offices in Newcastle and Stockton, is working with Suffolk Life, one of the UK's leading providers and administrators of self-invested personal pensions (SIPP).

It owns more than 3,000 commercial properties on behalf of more than 5,000 investors.

The legal panel will advise Suffolk Life on buying and selling commercial property within a SIPP, and Bond Dickinson is one of three law firms to have been appointed.

Joe Haigh, real estate director, said: “This appointment is an acknowledgement of our extensive experience and expertise in commercial property investment within SIPPs.”

Dominic Savage, Suffolk Life’s solicitor director of property, added: “The combination of SIPPs and commercial property is a complex one.

“Advisers and investors are increasingly finding it difficult to access the appropriate expertise and experience they need from their legal representative, and questions over recommending solicitors are fielded by my team ever more frequently.”