© Copyright Acquisition International 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

Article Image - Commercial and Private Client Advisory Services
Posted 29th February 2016

Commercial and Private Client Advisory Services

Veale Wasbrough Vizards (VWV) is a UK top 100 law firm with offices in London, Bristol, Birmingham and, from 1 February, Watford. We are a full service firm in our locations offering commercial and private client advisory services, with a national presence in key sectors.

Mouse Scroll AnimationScroll to keep reading

Let us help promote your business to a wider following.

Commercial and Private Client Advisory Services
Image

Veale Wasbrough Vizards (VWV) is a UK top 100 law firm with offices in London, Bristol, Birmingham and, from 1 February, Watford. We are a full service firm in our locations offering commercial and private client advisory services, with a national presence in key sectors.

The firm’s key sectors include, Education, Charities, Healthcare, Family Owned Businesses Public and Private Wealth. We are also active in other sectors including Aerospace & Defence, Technology, Start Ups, Energy and Recruitment. 

In 2009 I moved to London from Bristol to become Office Managing Partner for London as we merged with a boutique London firm, Vizards Tweedie.

My role has been to integrate the London Office (now around 70 people) into the wider firm, and work with our Managing Partner, Simon Heald, and our four department Heads, to build our business in London. For us this has been about focusing on key sectors where we can truly differentiate ourselves in a very competitive market and play to our strengths.

Winning the CEO award

It’s very pleasing to have your achievements recognised outside your core business. I couldn’t have achieved this on my own and believe my recognition is a result of many people’s efforts which embodies one of our core values of ‘teamwork and collaboration’.

Significant achievements in the last year
We have been joined by some great lateral hires over the year in London, including Serena Tierney, a leading IP lawyer.

Our reappointment to the London Universities Purchasing Consortium panel saw us achieving the highest score of the selected seven law firms. A really significant development has been our acquisition of 30 corporate and commercial lawyers and other staff on the planned de merger of Matthew Arnold & Baldwin in Watford. This will significantly enhance our offering in London and the South – the two offices are just 35 minutes apart.

Our Watford office also adds a new sector expertise for us – Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences.

My career

I trained at Simmons & Simmons and started my career as a Financial Services lawyer. In 1993 I moved to Eversheds in Cardiff and did mainly banking and insolvency work – at that time the Cardiff office was the main banking practice within the Eversheds group. I moved to Bristol in 1998 and joined Veale Wasbrough, as it was then, in 2001 by which time I had morphed into a corporate lawyer.

I enjoy change and think experience over a number of areas of law makes you a better lawyer andadviser. You will never know all the answers, but a broad experience means you get to know the questions you need to ask in the context of the things that really matter to your clients.

I became Head of Corporate in 2006 and in 2008 was invited to join our Management Board – two weeks after Lehman Brothers collapsed. It was a scary time. Clients just stopped what they were doing for a few months. In spite of that we had the courage to merge with Vizards Tweedie late 2009, at which point I was appointed London Office Managing Partner.

London Office Managing Partner
I have been LOMP since November 2009. I have in fact just stepped down from the role to become Chairman of the firm and take up a client facing role as a corporate partner.

I have a particular interest in Family Businesses – many of our SME clients are family owned, which brings another set of unique issues into play when advising them.

I am also really looking forward to working with my new Watford corporate partners – Richard Phillips, Emma Cameron and Paul Gershlick. Yvonne Spencer has taken over as London Office Partner and will do a great job for us.

Since 2009 London revenue has grown by 50%, and headcount has increased from 50 to 70. Our new office in Watford will add significant additional revenue (around 20% to the firm on an annual basis).

Client feedback 

We routinely ask clients for feedback when we complete work for them and achieve a 97% client satisfaction percentage. We have a strong culture across the firm underpinned by three core values – Teamwork and Collaboration, Client at the Centre of the Firm, and Commercial Approach. Culture isone of the main differentiators of professional service firms – our clients and staff notice it and it is one of the reasons they choose us.

Challenges and the future
There is a sense that the business of law will change very significantly within the next decade. Technology has so far increased the speed of what we do, but not so much how we do it. But it will before long, as new players circle around a still fragmented £25
billion market.

“Get big, get niche or get out” is the oft used cliché, and like all clichés has a core truth to it. We have to do whatever it takes to remain relevant to our clients – our London office will continue to play a big part in that.




Categories: Strategy


You Might Also Like
Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
How does Mortgage Life Insurance Work? A Brief Insight
Finance
15/06/2022How does Mortgage Life Insurance Work? A Brief Insight

Mortgage life insurance is a plan that pays off your debt if you die before the mortgage is paid off. It is often known as mortgage protection insurance as well. This insurance policy is usually great for your family as it secures the home and your family does

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
LLC vs S-Corp: What’s the Difference and Which Will Help Your Business Grow Faster?
Legal
09/12/2022LLC vs S-Corp: What’s the Difference and Which Will Help Your Business Grow Faster?

When forming a business, the number of pivotal decisions you need to make is eye-watering. And yet if you choose correctly at this stage, it’ll be a much smoother ride to success. Picking a structure for your fledgling company is particularly important, with

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Taking Energy Empowerment to the next Level
Innovation
13/02/2017Taking Energy Empowerment to the next Level

At Avant Garde Innovations ™, our goal is to eliminate energy poverty, reduce dependence on struggling state power grids and create energy self-sufficiency for all the needy ones through distributed, localised and affordable renewable energy.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
The necessary requirements when starting your own business
Innovation
29/01/2019The necessary requirements when starting your own business

When setting up your own business, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all of the planning. It’s also easy to forget things now and again, after all, there is a long list of work to do before you can get started. To ensure that you have all of your bases co

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre’s Acquisition of Direct Line
Finance
30/07/2015Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre’s Acquisition of Direct Line

Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre's Acquisition of Direct Line

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Ingenious IP Lawyer
Legal
18/01/2021Ingenious IP Lawyer

The murky world of Intellectual Property is hotly contested, with many law firms handling portfolios on a client’s behalf. As we look once again to those lights of the legal profession, we turn to Santiago R. O’Conor, the Leading Intellectual Property Pros

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Exeter-Based Simpleware Eyes Further Development Following Recent Acquisition by Silicon Valley Soft
Innovation
16/11/2016Exeter-Based Simpleware Eyes Further Development Following Recent Acquisition by Silicon Valley Soft

Exeter-based 3D image, data visualisation and analysis specialist Simpleware is eyeing further expansion following its recent acquisition by Synopsys, Inc., the world’s 15th largest software firm.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
How to build and manage credible partnerships and affiliations in business
Finance
21/02/2018How to build and manage credible partnerships and affiliations in business

The rapid rise of brands and companies partnering with experts and influencers to endorse products or services has been ever-increasing in our social media focused world.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Six Important Tips to Build Local Awareness for Your Brand
News
04/09/2023Six Important Tips to Build Local Awareness for Your Brand

Business branding is not a new concept for local businesses. Every business wants to enhance the overall perception of their brand, product, or service. However, it can be a hard endeavor to achieve when you have so much competition around you. In such circums



Our Trusted Brands

Acquisition International is a flagship brand of AI Global Media. AI Global Media is a B2B enterprise and are committed to creating engaging content allowing businesses to market their services to a larger global audience. We have 14 unique brands, each of which serves a specific industry or region. Each brand covers the latest news in its sector and publishes a digital magazine and newsletter which is read by a global audience.

Arrow