Harper James boosts employment law team with Partner appointment 

We've further bolstered our growing Employment law team with the appointment of experienced Partner Simon Gilmour.

The announcement, which comes as part of our ongoing commitment to delivering a flexible, partner-led service to businesses across the country, sees Gilmour join from Harrison Clark Rickerbys where he was a Partner and Head of Employment in their Worcester office.

Simon brings with him more than 20 years’ experience working on contentious and non-contentious employment matters, with particular expertise advising on M&As and TUPE, as well as supporting internal HR departments on matters including project managing and delivering restructure exercises and change management programmes. Our CEO and Corporate Solicitor, Toby Harper, said Simon’s arrival followed a ‘very successful year’ for our firm during which we secured a succession of major new business wins. 2017 also saw us strengthen our management team in the areas of risk and compliance, business development, client services and marketing.

Simon joins the firm - which has a full-service commercial offering and offices in Birmingham, London and Sheffield but which is best known for its remote operating, retainer business model that centres on affordable fees for start-ups, SMEs and other businesses – with immediate effect.

Toby Harper said: “Simon is a well-respected and highly skilled lawyer and his appointment demonstrates the high-quality recruitment that we at Harper James are undertaking in order to deliver affordable, best-in-class legal services and we’re excited to have him on-board.

“We are experiencing a very busy period with new clients and instructions, which is reflected by the growth of the firm, and we have no doubt that Simon will be an excellent asset for us, and in turn for our clients.”

With a career spanning more than two decades - including 14 years as a partner in Midlands-based firms, including Shakespeares and SGH Martineau - Simon Gilmour has acted on behalf of blue-chip clients and global organisations spanning a myriad of sectors.

Commenting on his new role Simon said:  “Having worked previously with Toby I am delighted to be joining his dynamic and successful firm.  I have no doubt that, together with other senior leaders in the business, we can continue to grow Harper James into a special and unique law firm, offering great quality advice and service at real value.”

Harper James has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2014, with the team including more than 40 partners, solicitors and support staff.

Our unique business model includes Enterprise, a monthly service plan targeted at innovative start-ups and SMEs, as well as On-Demand which is specifically aimed at more established businesses.