Leading law firm Howes Percival has trebled the size of its Milton Keynes office over the last 12 months. The firm has achieved exceptional growth through recruiting big hitting, senior people from larger law firms to the extent that over two thirds of the MK office’s current headcount has joined within the last year.
The growth follows a focused recruitment campaign driven by a sustained increase in client instructions across several key practice areas. Growth in Milton Keynes and across the wider firm shows no signs of slowing – its Corporate, Commercial and Banking team has completed almost £300m worth of deals in the first quarter of 2022.
Simon DeMaid, Employment Partner and head of the Milton Keynes office said:
“We are very much on an exciting growth journey and our ultimate aim is to be the go-to firm in Milton Keynes in each of our service lines.
“It is a tough recruitment market at the moment and people take it as read that you have top clients and high-calibre colleagues. Howes Percival is lucky to have both of these and what we are really trying to bring to life for candidates is the genuine experience of working here, our ‘HP DNA’ as it were. We recruit people who are not only top of their game but who we would all want to spend time with outside of the workplace.
“Our recruitment campaign has been facilitated by the appointment of Talent Acquisition Specialist, Keely Herring. Having Keely in-house means we are able to articulate the Howes Percival experience effectively to potential new recruits and has also enabled us to target top talent from competing firms directly.
“We continue to invest in our people and are absolutely committed to work-life balance. Although we are working flexibly both in the office and at home, we are actively encouraging people to come into the office a couple of days a week for training experience as well as emotional human support – we know that people like being with people. As we return to the office on a more regular basis post-COVID, the dimension of enjoying being in the office, aside of just doing the work, is a really important factor. We want staff to enjoy coming into the office and working alongside likeminded, friendly people.”
Commenting on the culture at Howes Percival, Director Tom Redman (previously at Dentons) said:
“Culturally, weekend working is the exception to the norm, as is late-night working. Having a genuine work-life balance that the firm encourages allows me to spend time with my young family whilst working on high-quality deals.”
With aspirations to grow across all offices throughout the central and eastern regions, Howes Percival is looking ahead to the future with a focus on the next generation.
Andy Harris, head of Corporate, Commercial and Banking at Howes Percival, added:
“We want people to build long-term careers with us, and whilst we welcome talented lateral hires, we also want to support our home-grown talent through to partnership. Collectively we also support them with our professional connections to enable them to be the next generation of business leaders in the local market.
“Howes Percival is expanding in all of our service lines across all offices to meet client demand and this is such a great opportunity for our next generation lawyers to build on their futures as the offices and firm grows and we look forward to supporting them through this period of exciting change and growth to become the go-to law firm in the central and eastern regions.”
Fleur Chapman, Associate for Real Estate at Howes Percival’s Milton Keynes office, said:
“Having trained with the firm and qualified into the MK office, I know that I am not alone in considering the working environment here to be unparalleled. Marcus Carter, Commercial Property partner, is a fantastic mentor and his unwavering enthusiasm and support has really helped my confidence to grow post-qualification.
”I’m proud to work with senior colleagues who value and respect their juniors and who encourage everyone at all levels to represent the firm. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to build on my professional network and attend a wide range of networking events, which is incredibly important as I progress in my career. This is what sets Howes Percival apart from other firms and we are excited about the continued growth of the MK office and the prospects and opportunities that this will bring.”
Howes Percival is currently hiring in Milton Keynes at all levels across all practice areas. For a confidential discussion about the available opportunities, contact Head of the Milton Keynes Office, Simon DeMaid at simon.demaid@howespercival.com or on 01908 872202
