At the age of 41, litigation specialist Richard is the firm's first new managing partner for 18 years, and is in charge of its offices in Manchester, Liverpool and Knutsford.

Prior to his appointment last November, Richard headed up the Dispute Resolution department of Mace & Jones' Manchester office, dealing with commercial disputes, insolvency, property litigation and construction. Under his management, the department saw a significant increase in turnover of 47 per cent, becoming the most profitable within the firm.

In recent years, Richard has taken two cases to the House of Lords, the most recent being the case of Celtec-v-Astley (2006 All ER (D) 210). This case had formerly been referred to the European Court in 2005 and revolved around issues of transfer of undertakings.

Commenting on his first six months as managing partner, Richard said: "We are a medium sized firm, but we do some high quality work, and I suppose I want us to grow, increase profitability and develop in the offices that we are in."

As part of this strategy, he has recruited Gaynor Hogarth, formerly Business Development Operations Director from Halliwells in Manchester.

Alongside achieving financial targets, Richard will focus on putting clients at the heart of the business, customer service excellence and the development of the firm's people - growing Mace & Jones' leaders of tomorrow.

Originally from the North West, Richard, who is married with two children, has settled in Buxton, where he is an active member of the Church in the Peak in Buxton.