Top Birmingham firm Wragge & Co has hired Irwin Mitchell’s highly-rated Sheffield head of corporate and commercial, Andrew Harrison, as part of a drive to boost the regional leader’s Ftse 100 and US client base.
Currently on gardening leave, Harrison will work with Wragges’ head of major corporate, Richard Haywood, on business development for larger UK clients. He will work with US partner David Birch on developing the firm’s North American client base.
Harrison, who worked at Clifford Chance for two years before joining Irwin Mitchell in 1990, has worked on deals such as the £105m management buyout of William Cook in the face of a hostile takeover by Triplex Lloyd and The Alpine Group’s £300m disposal to Cookson.
The move brings the number of partners in Wragges’ highly-rated corporate team to 19 – by far the largest in the Midlands. Clients include Powergen, British Airways and GKN. Harrison will join Wragges in August, taking its number of partners to 96.
Recent turnover figures showed Wragges had boosted its fee income by 30% to £54.5m – one of the highest growth rates of a major regional firm.
Commenting on the move, Haywood said: “It is rare to find someone of Andrew’s calibre and with a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic, and we are very pleased that he has chosen to join Wragge & Co.”
Harrison has been replaced as regional corporate head at Irwin Mitchell by partner Michael Jelly.
