Welcoming our new Head of Corporate to strengthen our service expertise
28th May 2024
Richard Naish has become our new Head of Corporate. Richard succeeds John Hamer, who’s led our Corporate Group for 14 years and is now taking on the new role of Chair of the LLP.
Richard has wide M&A experience across a variety of industries in the UK and overseas. He heads our Food & Drink group and, while many of his clients are in that sector, he also works with clients in the software, technology, and healthcare industries, where there’s considerable interest from Europe and the US in UK-based businesses. Alongside this, Richard works closely with many of our PLC clients and their advisers on IPOs, fundraising, and public bids.
Under John’s leadership, our Corporate Group has quadrupled their turnover and our lawyer count by 45% since 2018. Our current team is the largest in the region comprising of 25 lawyers and has a proven track record of nurturing and retaining talent. Around a third of our team have been with us since their trainee days, while nearly half have been employed by us for more than 5 years.
Our Corporate Group has a total of 8 partners. In addition to John and Richard, our team includes Debbie Jackson, Daniel O’Gorman, Jo Stephenson, Oliver Duke, Thomas Mieszkowski, and newly promoted Michael O’Halloran.
Some recent highlights of our Corporate Group’s work include providing strategic guidance and legal advice to Endless LLP on its acquisition of ASCO, ongoing advice to Mattioli Woods PLC on the £432 million takeover offer received from Pollen Street Capital and advising Swedish headquartered and Nasdaq OMX Nordic listed Elanders on its acquisition of Bishopsgate.
John Hamer, said: “Our Corporate Group is a fantastic team who’ve built long lasting relationships with our clients. I’m sure that, with Richard at the helm, the team will continue to be successful, and I’ll continue to play an active part in the team, advising on deals. Walker Morris is a great place to work and the only major law firm headquartered here in Leeds, so it’s an honour to be asked to take on the role of Chair.”
Richard Naish added: “Many thanks to John, who’s led the team for the last 14 years through some testing times, including the financial crisis, Covid-19 and Brexit. I’m excited to take over such a strong group and push on from where we are now. We offer a great place to work and provide our clients technical excellence alongside pragmatic, commercial advice, something that’s at the core of the team and something we’ll be sure to continue.”
For any further information or enquiries, please reach out to our Press team.
