Harrison Clark Rickerbys appoints new senior partner for merged firm

By Nicky Godding

17 August 2021

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Top regional law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys (HCR), which completed its merger with 176-year old firm Hewitsons, in June, has appointed a new senior partner.

After 32 years with the firm, senior partner Richard Knight has passed the baton to Dawn Oliver, who has been with the firm for 24 years.

Of his start with Rickerbys (which merged with Harrison Clark in 2013), corporate lawyer Richard said: “I only went for an interview because my dad knew a partner at Rickerbys who was looking for someone to join their fledgling corporate department. The trajectory and speed of travel since we put the two firms together simply takes my breath away.

“I am looking forward to being able to continue to work with some who have been clients for over quarter of a century, but to see our grandchildren and play a little bit of sport now and then.”

Dawn, the firm’s first female senior partner, and a private client expert, acknowledges the rate of growth, especially since the recent merger with Hewitsons, which adds two new offices and more than 200 extra staff to HCR’s network.

She said: “I’ve never known a year when the business stood still – it’s exciting beyond measure. What I most enjoy is the ability to inspire and lead junior private client lawyers who unexpectedly find it’s a very rewarding area of the law to practise in.

“I am honoured to take on the role of senior partner for the newly merged firm and I’m looking forward to meeting all our staff, both old and new, around our offices. As a firm, we have a strong culture of both tradition and innovation and as senior partner I will be ensuring that continues.”

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has more than 780 staff and partners based at offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Hereford, London, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Thames Valley, Worcester and the Wye Valley, and a turnover of around £65 million.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.