Danny McNeill

I am an associate in Bird & Bird's Employee Incentives and Benefits team based in London.

I advise listed and private companies on their employee incentive arrangements, including both share-based and cash incentive plans. My work covers everything from initial plan design through day-to-day operations and helping clients navigate the incentives aspects of funding rounds, M&A and joining or leaving a business.

A significant part of my practice involves helping clients think through the commercial and tax implications of their incentive structures. I work closely with founders, management teams, and investors to design arrangements that align with their business objectives and support them throughout the implementation stage and beyond. I also regularly assist clients in agreeing valuations with HMRC's Shares and Assets Valuation team for both EMI and CSOP options.

On transactions, I advise on matters including EMI and other tax-advantaged schemes, equity rollover structures, and how management participation works across different deal stages. I've worked on everything from early-stage funding rounds to complex exits, helping clients manage the tax, regulatory and documentation challenges that come with incentivising management in competitive deal environments.

I trained at a Silver Circle firm before joining Bird & Bird, which gave me strong exposure to complex cross-border matters and corporate transactions. I'm particularly interested in the intersection between incentives and M&A, in particular, how plan design supports value creation, how arrangements are structured to work through different funding stages, and how buyers scrutinise incentive plans in due diligence.

What I enjoy most is combining technical rigour with practical, commercial advice. I focus on explaining complex tax and regulatory issues in clear language and providing solutions that actually work in practice.