Customs lawyer finds City niche

A former Customs and Excise gamekeeper has turned poacher by forming his own niche practice in the City.

Adrian Shryane, who for three years was one of 50 HM Customs and Excise legal advisers in its headquarters near Blackfriars, has been running Enforcement Response since he left in 1993. The company specialises in publishing and training.

"It had always been my intention to spin off the legal advice side of the business into a separate legal practice once the company was well established," he said. "That's what I have done."

He said he would work with the support of a former Customs & Excise lawyer and would use other lawyers on short-term contracts "as and when necessary".

Existing niche VAT firm Mainprice & Co, with a staff of three headed by barrister-turned-solicitor Hugh Mainprice; and his barrister daughter Clare, has already proved successful in taking on the VAT office on the three-year rule.

Shryane said he thought his practice would be unique for a niche law firm because it covered all customs work, not just VAT.