Harrison Drury hires Gavin Wright as first CEO

Lancashire-wide law firm Harrison Drury has appointed Gavin Wright in the newly created position of chief executive officer.

John Chesworth, who took over as managing partner at Harrison Drury in 2007 and has built it into one of the region’s fastest-growing firms, becomes executive chairman of the business. John will continue leading the board of directors, developing the future strategy of the firm and helping build stronger relations with existing clients and other businesses.

John Chesworth, chairman of Harrison Drury, said: “This appointment is about leading Harrison Drury into the future and putting in place a management structure to enable growth. Gavin’s record in the professional services arena speaks for itself. He has extensive experience of law firm management and developing growing businesses.”

Since 2007 staff numbers at Harrison Drury have gone from 12 in one office in Preston to more than 90 across five offices in Lancashire and Cumbria. This growth has enabled Harrison Drury to offer a wider range of services to its clients, and provide the depth of expertise that businesses need, but hasn’t always been available in the local area.

John Chesworth added: “Our vision is to make it possible for businesses in Lancashire and Cumbria to receive the best commercial legal services without sending the work out of the region and to provide an equivalent private client service to high-net-worth individuals. I firmly believe the new management structure we have put in place will enable us to do this.” The firm was named in the Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies to Work For list in both 2016 and 2017 and won Law Firm of the Year in the Red Rose Awards 2017.