Expert takes the helm in specialist team

Howes Percival has announced that Andy Harris has been promoted to Head of the Corporate, Commercial and Banking (CCB) team.

Andy rejoined Howes Percival in May 2020, having previously been with the firm from 1999 to 2008 and is noted as a leading corporate and commercial expert by both the Chambers and Legal 500 legal directories. With over 30 years’ experience as a transactional and advisory corporate lawyer, Andy has extensive experience in M&A work, private equity, funding work and reorganisations. He has specific expertise in the automotive and manufacturing sectors and is experienced in advising on cross-border and international transactions. His client portfolio includes prestigious owner-managed businesses and well-known UK-based companies.

Howes Percival’s CCB practice advises clients on significant and transformational acquisitions and disposals as well as a full range of contractual matters. It also provides a dedicated banking and finance service to its borrower clients and also to banks, financial institutions, funds and other lenders.

In recent years, Howes Percival has invested heavily in its CCB practice, which has grown by approximately 50% across all its offices, with several promotions and senior, high-profile hires.  Most recently, the firm announced the promotion of corporate law specialist Matthew Thompson to Partner, and Ben Hancox and Harriet Rogers to Senior Associate within the team.

Geraint Davies, Howes Percival’s Chairperson said: “Corporate, commercial and banking work is one of our core specialisms and our practice has grown considerably in the last few years. We’ve seen a significant increase in the number, quality and size of deals we are asked to advise on. In the first quarter of this year, we completed 32 deals, with a combined value of £263m. Under Andy’s leadership, our ambition is to continue to further develop our CCB offering and client base and in the next few weeks we hope to announce another high-profile partner appointment.”

Andy Harris added: “The last 12 months have been very challenging, but also very busy indeed with buyers and sellers coming to the market, for a variety of different reasons. Many businesses have been able to demonstrate strong normalised performance despite the pandemic; and sellers have seen pricing remain strong and have decided that now is the time to de-risk. There’s also money available to support deals. Our CCB team has performed incredibly well during the pandemic and we’re feeling very positive about the rest of this year and beyond.”

For more information on Howes Percival’s CCB practice visit: www.howespercival.com/services/corporate