Beleaguered Ashurst has refreshed its board amid a turbulent time for the LB100 firm with London-based partner Jason Radford and Munich’s Bernd Egbers taking spots.
Partners at the firm have voted in the pair for a three year term commencing 1 November after London based finance partner Mark Vickers and Spain’s head of real estate Cristina Calvo reached the end of their terms.
Radford and Egbers (pictured) join chairman Ben Tidswell and the firm’s vice chairman Mary Padbury guiding the panel alongside managing partner Paul Jenkins. Australian based partners Roger Davies and Jennie Mansfield also sit on the board with London-based Angela Pearson and independent board members Robert Gillespie and David Turner.
Energy and infrastructure partner Radford has been a partner at the firm since 2002. Radford has broad experience in energy, transportation and infrastructure transactions including joint ventures, M&A, fund raisings, project finance and PPP transactions. He relocated to New York to set up the firm’s energy and infra practice in 2011.
Joining Ashurst in 2006 from legacy Norton Rose, Egbers became partner three years later. He specialises in both domestic and cross-border structured finance transactions.
Ashurst’s board governs during a difficult period for the firm, which posted its second year of falling revenues following its merger with Blake Dawson in 2013 with turnover falling 10% to £505m while PEP took a significant hit, dropping 19%, down to £603,000 from £747,000 during the 2015/16 financial year. Following the disappointing performance, in August the firm voted through changes to revamp its lockstep in a bid to retain star partners.
The same month the firm halted its upcoming quarterly profit distribution to partners. A former partner told Legal Business the firm had also failed to pay out its February quarterly partner drawings this year
Earlier this week, Legal Business revealed Ashurst faces an estimated £55m cost to fit out its new Spitalfields office.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk
