Irwin Mitchell Promotes Chris Rawstron to National Head of Corporate

29th May 2014

Irwin Mitchell has promoted Chris Rawstron to the position of National Head of Corporate as the law firm bolsters its management team ahead of a new wave of senior recruitment within its fast-growing business team.

  Chris will be now be responsible for leading the firm's 14-Partner strong Corporate and Commercial offering across offices in Sheffield and Leeds as well as London, Birmingham, Manchester.   Following his promotion to the newly created role, Chris will drive forward Irwin Mitchell's Corporate and Commercial recruitment activity which so far this year has already resulted in Partners Nick Dawson and Sarah Riding moving to the firm.   Chris Rawstron said: -Irwin Mitchell has a strong and very talented Corporate and Commercial team which has the ability to serve the needs of its clients both nationally and internationally. We are determined to build on this and grow the department with the very best people so that we can take full advantage of the opportunities that present themselves in the market.   Chris, who joined Irwin Mitchell as a Partner in February 2013, is a Corporate lawyer with over 25 years of experience of advising public and private companies on M&A, capital raising, corporate governance as well as general advice. Clients have ranged from small private companies to large private groups; and, AIM listed companies to FTSE 100/250 entities.   He was Managing Partner at DLA Piper in Birmingham between 1999 and 2010 and sat on the organisation's global board in 2005-06.   Niall Baker, Chief Executive of Irwin Mitchell's Business Legal Services team, added: -We have invested heavily in our BLS team during the last two years and believe that growing our Corporate and Commercial team is essential as it will enable us to further enhance our range of services to clients, and provide an important platform for future growth across Irwin Mitchell's entire business division.   -Chris Rawstron has been with Irwin Mitchell for over a year and he has already had a considerable impact in growing our Birmingham team. He is an extremely well regarded Corporate lawyer and someone who has the pedigree and calibre to attract the very best people as we step up our investment in this area.   Irwin Mitchell recently announced that it had secured a £60m refinancing deal with HSBC, Lloyds and RBS to help support its expansion plans.   Already this year, Irwin Mitchell has announced that it has recruited seven new Partners into its BLS team. In addition to Nick Dawson and Sarah Riding, the firm has hired contentious tax specialist Phil Berwick, insolvency expert Edward Judge and three commercial litigation Partners, Jonathan Sachs, Jonathon Crook and Dorrien Peters. Other high profile recruits in its Corporate team include Associates James Foster and Rob Laugharne.