Howes Percival lands leading corporate lawyer

City trained, Smith acts for a range of clients including listed companies, private firms, PE backed entities and partnerships.

His expertise covers the full range of corporate and commercial law including mergers and acquisitions, JVs, shareholder advice and MBOs/MBIs. He has especially strong sector experience in holiday parks and logistics and is regularly asked to advise on M & As with a cross-border element.

Recent experience includes acting for two large holiday park operators on all their acquisition and disposal work, representing a French logistics operator on its first strategic acquisition in the UK market and assisting the UK subsidiary of a US-based company on its disposal of a non-core subsidiary to a US PE-backed entity.

Howes Percival's Milton Keynes corporate team has grown by 400 per cent in the last four years with what the firm calls “a run of top-level recruits and eye-catching transactions.”

The team has consolidated its reputation with substantial deals completed for household-name clients including Group 1 Automotive, Steven Eagell, Polyco Healthline Group, BGF and Lloyds Development Capital and winning major awards including the Law Firm of the Year at last year's Insider Central and Eastern Region Dealmakers Awards.

Tom Redman, Howes Percival Partner and Head of MK Corporate said: “Gary was our top choice when we first started looking for a senior local Partner to join the team.

“Andy Harris and I both worked alongside Gary when we were at Dentons, and his work and client base perfectly complement our existing offering and provide a platform for further growth.

“Our clients are at the heart of everything we do and the ability to attract the top local talent is a key part of ensuring we continue to provide the best possible client service.

“To add senior expertise of Gary's calibre is testament to the hard work we've put in over the last few years to grow our reputation and become even more of a key player in our local market.”