Irwin Mitchell attracts top lawyer from rival

Corporate partner Andrea Cropley has joined Irwin Mitchell from Nabarro in Sheffield.

Ms Cropley specialises in merger and acquisition activity, IPOs (initial public offerings), capital reorganisations, joint ventures and strategic alliances for public and private UK and international clients. Her clients include banks, UK and overseas companies and entrepreneurs.

She also advises on commercial contracts, including procurement, distribution, licensing and agency arrangements.

Niall Baker, the chief executive at Irwin Mitchell’s Business Legal Services Division, said: “We are delighted that Andrea has chosen to join Irwin Mitchell, particularly as she shares our vision for developing and expanding our business legal services team.

“She has built up more than 20 years of national and international corporate expertise and we are confident that she will dovetail extremely well into the team here in Sheffield.”

Ms Cropley said: “I am excited about the future and the prospects and opportunities that joining the firm will bring.”

Irwin Mitchell has made a number of senior appointments in recent months.

Irwin Mitchell recently hired Dean Gormley as its head of banking and finance for the north of England. In October, Irwin Mitchell acquired PDP Management Services, in the latest stage of its plans to expand its business offering. It bought the company, which specialises in arrears management, through its Ascent subsidiary.

PDP will continue to trade under its own name. In August, Irwin Mitchell was approved as an ABS, which means it can receive backing from external investors. Irwin Mitchell, which has 1,300 staff at its offices in Leeds and Sheffield, was the first company to be granted multiple ABS licences by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.