Hugh James has made three new appointments to strengthen its well-established public sector practice, including two partners and a bids and tenders manager.
Emily Powell joins the firm in the commercial team after spending eight years at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as legal advisor, handling complex procurement and commercial contracts.
Emily advised on the commercial, regulatory and public law aspects of a variety of complex projects for the public sector organisation. This included providing advice on procurement processes from inception to completion and implementation as well as drafting procurement and contract documents.
She also advised on any issues that occurred following procurement, including contract disputes, termination, warranty, liability and amendment issues, as well as providing advice on State Aid.
Richard Macphail, a Swansea University graduate, also joins as a partner within the property team.
Richard has many years of experience acting for public sector clients on all aspects of property work. His particular expertise is advising housing associations and public sector organisations
At Hugh James, Richard will be one of the leading partners in the firm’s large social housing and public sector team.
Both partners will be working closely with the firm’s new business development bids and tenders manager, Huw Thomas.
A fluent Welsh speaker from Caernarfon, Huw previously worked for Isle of Anglesey County Council as senior corporate procurement officer. Prior to this, Huw worked on the Welsh Government’s Business Wales project providing support to businesses in tendering for public sector contracts.
Emily Powell said:
“Many clients are looking for support to ensure that they have a more integrated service from the beginning of the procurement stages through to implementation and completion. By working closely with the commercial team, we will continue to offer a holistic service benefitting our existing and new clients.”
Alun Jones, managing partner at Hugh James, said:
“Emily, Richard and Huw will all be huge assets to the firm and add significant strength to our public sector offering. Growing our social housing and public sector work is a key target for our growth plans and we know their experience and knowledge will make a significant contribution in helping us to achieve this.”
