Member Spotlight: Sarah Attwood, Principal Associate, Mills & Reeve

Introduce yourself

I’m Sarah Attwood, a Principal Associate at Mills & Reeve, based in our Manchester office. I work with a broad range of organisations, providing commercial law and data protection advice, including to clients operating in the sports sector. I regularly advise football clubs, Premier League and WSL players, managers and agents on image rights deals and commercial sponsorship agreements. I’m also passionate about levelling the playing field for women in sport. In 2019 I launched our Equaliser package at Mills & Reeve; our specialist legal offering to the women’s sports sector.

Career highlight

A key highlight of my career has been advising members of the England Lionesses team on their image rights and contractual matters alongside the continued growth of women’s sport. Building trusted, long‑term client relationships and helping clients navigate both commercial and regulatory challenges has been particularly rewarding. More recently, the Mills & Reeve sports team won the Business and Professional Services to Football Award at the Ladbrokes Northwest Football Awards for our Equaliser package, and we have also just been nominated at the 2026 Women’s Football Awards for Legal Team of the Year!

Name three words that describe your personality

Approachable, collaborative, commercially minded.

What’s the best thing about pro-manchester?

The sense of community and collaboration. I sit on the Sports Industry Group, and it’s brilliant to connect with professionals from the sector as well as those working across connected industries such as technology. We saw this most recently at our 2026 conference where we brought together key people from across the sport and business community. Pro‑Manchester creates genuine opportunities for meaningful relationships and shared insight across the city.

What are your priorities for 2026?

My priorities for 2026 include continuing to develop my sports sector practice alongside my broader commercial work, supporting clients with increasingly complex commercial and data protection arrangements, and contributing to the continued growth of Mills & Reeve’s Manchester presence. This includes building on one of our key ambitions at Mills & Reeve; developing personal, long‑term and supportive partnerships with our clients. With AI playing an increasingly important role across sport and business, I also have a growing interest in how emerging technologies are shaping commercial arrangements, data use and governance, so that’s also on my list!

What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

Manchester’s continued evolution as a centre for sport, culture and business is one of its greatest strengths. Ongoing investment in infrastructure and the growth of the sports and live events with our red and blue stadiums, as well as the Co-op Live, all make it a brilliant place to live and work! The city’s ability to attract both national and international organisations and people all play a vital role in its success.

Favourite meeting place in Manchester

Circle Square where we are based has really grown over the last few years and we have some great eateries and coffee shops. I also recently visited Fenix in Manchester, which was a fantastic spot for Greek food!

Are their any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet?

I’m keen to connect with businesses operating in or around the sports sector including clubs, governing bodies, athletes, sponsors and investors; as well as growing technology businesses looking to collaborate or expand within the Manchester market.

Get In Touch

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +441612348717

LinkedIn: Sarah Attwood | LinkedIn