Legal expertise from Hanoi to Manchester
Sarah spent 6 years living and working in Hanoi before returning to Manchester in August 2021. She joined Khiri Vietnam to help UK business owners navigate the messy reality of Asian trade law. She doesn't just read the statutes from a desk in the UK. She has spent hundreds of hours in provincial government offices across Vietnam. She knows exactly which stamps are needed for a textile export license and which ones are just bureaucratic noise. Her focus is on the 2020 Law on Investment and how it affects small workshops in the North West.
Last year alone, Sarah reviewed 19 separate supply agreements for our clients. In 14 of those cases, she found hidden clauses that would have tied the UK buyer into 3-year exclusivity deals they didn't want. She spotted a tax liability error in October 2023 that saved a small footwear brand in Salford exactly £3,450 in avoidable duties. Her approach is about finding these small, expensive mistakes before you sign the bottom line. She speaks the language of the local officials and knows how to get a straight answer when a shipment is stuck.
We don't believe in 60-page legal memos that no one reads. Sarah provides a 4-page summary for every audit she performs. It lists the red flags, the yellow flags, and the clear paths. This document gives you the facts you need to negotiate better prices with your Asian partners. She recently helped a furniture importer in Bolton re-draft their entire supplier handbook. This led to a 22% reduction in shipping delays because the paperwork was finally filled out correctly at the source.
Due diligence is where Sarah really shines. In March 2024, she conducted a remote audit on 8 potential suppliers in Binh Duong province for a Manchester-based client. She discovered that 3 of those suppliers were actually middle-men with no manufacturing capacity of their own. By flagging this early, the client avoided a £12,000 mistake. She checks everything from fire safety certificates to land use rights. If a supplier is cutting corners on their local permits, Sarah will find it in the public records.
She is not the kind of consultant who tells you what you want to hear. If a deal looks risky or a partner seems unreliable, she will say so directly. We use fixed project fees for her work, so you aren't watching a clock during every call. Sarah is usually in the Manchester office from Monday to Thursday, 8:45 to 17:15. She takes a short lunch break at 13:00. On Fridays, she finishes at 15:30 to catch up on paperwork for our partners in Ho Chi Minh City.
To be upfront, Sarah isn't the right fit if you want a lawyer to simply nod and agree with your expansion plans. She is here to protect your Manchester bank account from foreign legal traps. She works best with firms that have between 12 and 85 employees and are looking for their first or second major Asian supplier. She keeps her client list small—usually no more than 7 active projects at once—to ensure she can actually read every line of your contracts herself.