Two senior figures at Legal Business 100 firms Burges Salmon and Fladgate will see their tenures come to an end in the coming months as the firms announce a new managing partner and chairman respectively.
Bristol-headquartered Burges Salmon has appointed head of employment Roger Bull its new managing partner, replacing Peter Morris, effective from May.
Bull (pictured, left) joined Burges Salmon in 1995 and has been a partner since 2003, as well as a member of its executive committee between 2009 and 2011.
He has been head of the firm’s employment team since 2011 and will maintain responsibility for some key client relationships in his new role, although partner Adrian Martin is to take over as head of that team.
Bull succeeds the incumbent Morris (pictured, right) who has been managing partner since 2010 and will remain at the firm to assist with the transition.
Morris said Bull and senior partner Chris Seaton (who was appointed to replace Alan Barr almost a year ago) would make a strong management team: ‘I am confident that Burges Salmon will continue to prosper in their safe hands’.
Typically a strong performer financially with robust profitability, the firm’s bottom line last year fell for the first time in six years, dropping 8% on flat revenues, which it attributed to the impact of Brexit. Profit per equity partner (PEP) also fell to £435,000 from the previous year’s £525,000.
Elsewhere one of the LB100’s strongest-performing firms in recent years, Fladgate, has elected Richard Reuben to replace Charles Wander as its new chair, effective from April.
Wander had been chairman of West End-based Fladgate – a firm which has seen its revenue nearly double to £49.2m in the past decade – since 2011. Reuben, who was the firm’s head of real estate, will be replaced in that role by Stephen Lewis.
Reuben said Wander, who will stay on as a consultant practising in the corporate group, had made an enormous contribution to the firm. Fladgate’s goal for 2020 was to add another 40% to its turnover to take it to between £65m and £70m.
He added: ‘As Fladgate looks to the future, our intention is to build on the financial strength of the business by attracting the highest quality talent that will enable us to continue to deliver success on a consistent basis for the benefit of future generations of partners and employees.’
Yesterday (8 January), the firm also appointed former Gordon Dadds partner Jan Hoppe to its corporate and German team, to advise on M&A matters with a cross-border focus.
Hamish.mcnicol@legalease.co.uk