Former Wragges chief joins IT boutique

White & Black managing partner Phil Riman said Crabtree will have a client-facing role where it is hoped he can leverage experience as a corporate lawyer.

“John’s role will be about relationship building,” said Riman. “When we set up the firm in 2007 our proposition was to be a niche ­corporate firm with a focus on technology.

John’s arrival will help us on the heavy-lifting corporate work. A lot of work we have now is ­technology ­buyouts, which involves a lot of large-scale, multijurisdictional issues.”

Crabtree was senior ­partner at Wragges between 1993 and 2003, when turnover increased by 650 per cent, from £12m to £77.8m. He left the firm in 2004 and has held a ­number of directorships since then.