DLA Piper appoints Noel Haywood as Birmingham Office Managing Partner

DLA Piper has appointed Noel Haywood as the office managing partner of its Birmingham office, succeeding Trevor Ivory, following his successful three year term. Trevor will continue in his role as UK Head of Planning.

Noel was head of the Birmingham Corporate team for eight years and has been leading the firm’s Consumer Goods, Food and Retail Sector as Global Co-Chair. Noel is supporting the succession process to replace him as Global Co-Chair of this key Sector for the firm and, once complete, he will stand down to focus on the responsibilities of Office Managing Partner. Noel will remain actively engaged in the Sector and on related client work, with a practice based on advising major corporates and institutional clients on domestic, international and cross-border M&A.

Noel joined DLA Piper in 1998, became a partner in 2007 and went on to lead the Birmingham Corporate team in 2014. He has been a prominent member of the corporate finance and wider business advisory community for a significant amount of time.

Noel Haywood commented: “Birmingham is a vibrant and rapidly growing and changing city and as a firm we have been proud to be part of its evolution. As the only truly global law firm in the region, I will continue to build upon this legacy by ensuring that our local clients continue to benefit from our expertise, international reach and perspectives and that our international clients similarly benefit from our local experience and execution excellence. None of this is possible, however, without our exceptional people and having now moved into our landmark new office I will make it a priority to continue the progress already made in creating an environment where everyone feels that they belong and are inspired to thrive and grow.”

UK managing partner Liam Cowell added: “Noel has proven himself to be an outstanding and effective leader, both through leading the Corporate team in Birmingham and Co-Chairing the firm’s Global Consumer Goods, Food and Retail sector team. It is this experience, coupled with his passion and advocacy for the region, that makes Noel a natural choice to succeed Trevor and continue his excellent work in leading the Birmingham office. On that note, I would like to thank Trevor for his invaluable contribution towards building our presence and reputation in Birmingham and beyond and for his ever present enthusiasm over the past three years, not least of all in overseeing the move into our state of the art offices in the city. He leaves a fantastic foundation on which Noel will undoubtedly build.”