Dicksons head of tax defects

Niche Scottish corporate firm Dickson Minto WS has lost its well-regarded English-qualified head of tax, Janet Jones, to Addleshaw Booth & Co.

Unusually for a lawyer of her status, Jones was not a partner at Dickson Minto and will continue as an assistant solicitor when she joins Addleshaws' team of six corporate tax specialists in its Leeds office.

Although Dickson Minto managing partner Bruce Minto said the firm was sorry to see Jones go, he said there were no immediate plans to replace her.

He said Dickson Minto retained sufficient corporate tax expertise to back up its corporate practice and if a new head of tax was to be appointed the firm's policy would be to promote from within.

Jones refused to comment on the reasons for her departure, but Richard Hayes, partner and head of tax at Addleshaw Booth & Co, said that hers was a "key appointment".

Twelve-partner Dickson Minto has had quiet success in its focus on venture capital work. Despite its small size it formed in 1985 when Alastair Dickson and Bruce Minto broke away from Dundas & Wilson the firm advised on a number of high-profile, big-ticket City deals in 1997.