Peter Manford has joined the firm’s Corporate and Commercial team in Shrewsbury as a new Partner

The law firm Aaron & Partners has bolstered its Corporate and Commercial team with the appointment of a highly experienced lawyer.

Peter Manford has joined the firm as a Corporate & Commercial Partner and will be based at its Shrewsbury office, primarily servicing clients across Shropshire and the Midlands.

Starting his career in London, his previous roles include more than a decade with global law firm Eversheds Sutherland, where he became a specialist in the logistics and transport sectors and became Commercial Partner leading a team of 10 lawyers involved in commercial contract work and.

Peter also has many years experience working with businesses in the IT and telecoms sectors and has acted for numerous universities, schools and colleges in relation to a wide range of issues. In addition, he has extensive franchising expertise having been the first lawyer in the UK to become a Qualified Franchise Professional (QFP).

After his time at Eversheds, Peter held the position of Head of Commercial at Birmingham firm Shakespeare Martineau, leading a team of 14 lawyers.

Peter also has direct industry experience. For a number of years he was commercial director at Sauflon Pharmaceuticals – then the fifth largest contact lens manufacturer globally, where he helped oversee the sale of that company to CooperVision in a deal worth more than one billion dollars.

Peter said: “Aaron & Partners is a firm I knew a lot about and when I spoke to some of the other Partners here, I knew it was somewhere I wanted to be.

“My career has given me some wonderful opportunities to experience many different aspects of law. However, having obtained an MBA from INSEAD in addition to my legal qualification, I know well that the commercial objectives are what matter most. The law is the means to an end and not the end itself, so I like to think I that a strong understanding of those objectives frames any advice that I give.

“As lawyers, we are facilitators of an important process and by being commercially focused, we can help ensure the very best outcomes for our business owner clients and their managers.”

Stuart Haynes, Senior Partner at Aaron & Partners’ Shrewsbury office, added: “We’ve found a highly experienced lawyer in Peter and it’s fantastic to welcome him to our team.

“We’ve been growing our specialisms very successfully in recent years and our Corporate and Commercial team has a solid reputation for delivering for clients.

“Peter enhances the level of service and expertise we can offer, and he’s already involved in a wide range of work supporting our clients.”