AN INCREASE in new instructions has led regional law firm Howes Percival to expand its employment team in the Milton Keynes and Northampton region.
James Pitts joins the team as a newly qualified associate, having completed his training contract with Howes Percival, while Lydia Mills has been recruited from fellow law firm Spratt Endicott as an associate.
Both will work across the firm’s offices in Milton Keynes and Northampton.
The employment department has seen a steady increase in employment work over the last couple of years due to the rapid expansion of Howes Percival’s corporate commercial and banking division, which has tackled a growing amount of merger and acquisition work and additional employment enquiries from CCB clients.
The increase in instructions is also as a result of the economic instability, which generates client enquiries in relation to restructuring, changing terms and conditions, trade union negotiations and redundancy. Howes Percival has also welcomed several new clients in the automotive, healthcare, food & beverage and transport & logistics sectors, a reflection of the firm’s reputation and level of expertise, said employment law partner Simon deMaid.
“We are delighted for James,” Mr deMaid said. “Training and retaining ‘home grown’ talent in this way has always been hugely important to us as a firm. Equally, we continue to attract the best talent at every level and Lydia is a fantastic addition to the team.
“We have seen an increased number of new matters for quite some time now and it isn’t showing any sign of slowing down. The work has come from a combination of our existing employment clients, new client wins and an increased number of instructions from existing Howes Percival clients that we haven’t advised previously.”
Howes Percival has grown its offices in Milton Keynes at Knowlhill and in Northampton across all divisions over the past year. The employment department has seen particular growth in employment tribunal cases and in complex disability discrimination and mental health cases due to the ongoing aftereffects of lockdown and the pandemic.
“We expect this to continue throughout 2023,” said Mr deMaid.
“The local economy remains buoyant and has proved resilient in recent years. We have strong links with businesses and business leaders across the MK and Northampton region and this enables us to better understand what is going on with local business within our own markets and react early to any changes.”
Pictured top: The Howes Percival employment team. Simon deMaid is pictured second from left.
