Newest Mills & Reeve partner discusses entrepreneurial clients and a growing office

“A COMBINATION of hard work, bright ideas and sometimes a bit of luck has seen my clients succeed,” said Andrew Playle, newly appointed partner at Mills & Reeve’s private wealth team.

A specialist in private client work, he is working alongside Julia Rangecroft, with head of the team Chris Belcher, to provide estate planning and trust advice to business owners, corporate trustees and insurers, having been in the industry for 20 years.

“My clients usually tend to be entrepreneurial,” he said. “Usually they are the first generation to have succeeded from financial perspective.”

Described as “extremely personable” in the Legal 500, maybe it is for that reason that Mr Playle has represented a quarter of the 20 wealthiest families in Yorkshire.

“They need to take advice for what it means for their family, for how they look after that wealth. Quite often we are starting with a blank sheet of paper.

“With my typical clients, an event has made them realise that they need some professional help with things that they’ve never had to get help with before. We can get them over nervousness around planning for the children and writing a will.”

In his new position, working with external financial planners has helped develop relationships, “a small difference,” said Mr Playle, “but quite a positive difference – I can be a bit more independent in my recommendations.”

Though Leeds may be the smallest of Mills & Reeve’s office network, “it has the most potential to grow,” said Mr Playle, and attracting high calibre lawyers is a step in the right direction for the entrepreneurial law firm.