Irwin Mitchell Appoints National Finance Partner

7th August 2012

SHEFFIELD-BASED law firm, Irwin Mitchell, has reaffirmed its ongoing strategic drive to build a leading national business legal services team with the recruitment of high profile partner, Andrew Watson.

Andrew, who joins from Squire Sanders (formerly Squire Sanders Hammonds), will be based in the London office and in his role as National Head of Finance, will support  the firm's offices in Leeds and Sheffield whilst  dovetailing with Irwin Mitchell's existing corporate and real estate teams across Yorkshire. He has a particular specialism in Asset Based Lending, covering receivables finance, trade finance, inventory finance, equipment finance and structuring cross-border financings.  He is widely acknowledged as leading lawyer in this field with a particular strong reputation for the use of bespoke structures in connection with acquisition financings. His client base is wide ranging and includes UK clearing banks and their subsidiaries, independent specialist financiers, and US and European asset based lenders. Since bringing his practice to what is now Squire Sanders upon the merger of Wilde & Partners with Hammond Suddards Edge in 2001, Andrew has helped develop what is widely regarded as one of the very best practices in the non-contentious Asset Based Lending arena in the UK. Commenting on the new appointment, Niall Baker, Head of Business Legal Services said, Complementing and strengthening our existing Finance team, this appointment is a serious step up for Irwin Mitchell in terms of capability and reputation in the Finance legal market place. We are very pleased indeed to be able to offer enhanced services to our clients by the addition of City finance expertise. Finance is a natural area for Irwin Mitchell to continue to expand into, leveraging off our already strong relationships with a large number of banks, insurance companies and related businesses. It will also give us the opportunity to increase business in related fields such as litigation, recovery, insolvency and restructuring, by offering lenders a -one stop shop solution servicing all their principal needs. I am absolutely delighted Andrew has decided to join us as we continue to expand our Business Legal Services offering in the UK. He added, Andrew has experience of a very broad range of financing structures and techniques and of the issues for financiers in insolvency situations and is therefore very well placed to advise both our lender and borrower clients in connection with their financing needs.  He is also entrepreneurial and imaginative in the product development area and sees huge opportunities to develop innovative service delivery methods and new products targeted at some of the firm's major clients. Andrew's appointment is the latest in a series of senior appointments in the Business Legal Services Division of Irwin Mitchell as it drives forward its strategic growth plan.  This drive began in November 2010 when the firm appointed SJ Berwin's head of real estate Jon Vivian who joined the London office with six other partners and a team of over 20, closely followed by the appointment of Paul Firth in 2011 from DLA Sheffield to work with Niall Baker, head of the firm's Business Legal Services division, to develop the business practice across the UK.  The appointment of Tom Flanagan as National Head of Employment followed in March 2011. Other more recent senior appointments in Yorkshire include DLA Piper's Head of Construction and Engineering in Yorkshire, Julie Morrissy and Steven Bate, DWF's Head of Construction in Yorkshire. The firm also recently announced that dealmaker, Matt Ainsworth, is joining the firm as Partner from DLA Piper.