Stephenson Harwood partner lands part-time Nirah GC role

Leisure company Nirah Holdings has appointed Stephenson Harwood’s Ian Fletcher as the organisation's new company secretary and general counsel.

Fletcher will remain in his current role as partner at Stephenson Harwood, a firm he joined in 1999, spending two days of every week at Nirah.

"I'm nearing the end of my career in private practise and am looking to build up my external non-executive appointments at the moment," said Fletcher on the unusual arrangement.

He added that after another year at Stephenson Harwood, he will leave the firm.
He replaces Andrew Perkins at Nirah, who was company secretary prior to Fletcher's appointment.

Perkins is currently a director at MacArthur, a financial services company that is a venture partner, investor and financial adviser to Nirah.

Fletcher is not the only big name on board the project, Keith Edelman, managing director of Arsenal Football Club, was the most recent appointment. He joined as a director in the organisation last month and is to take over the reins as chairman at the end of the year when Peter May, who is also chairman at MacArthur, steps down.

Nirah is the organisation at the helm of the £400m aquarium complex in Bedfordshire, a development that aims to bring together research, conservation and leisure through the establishment and operation of a freshwater sanctuary. The project is still awaiting planning permission.