Ward Hadaway continues expansion with fourth Eversheds hire

Newcastle-based Ward Hadaway has hired an Eversheds corporate partner.

Mike Spetch joins Ward Hadaway as a partner in the corporate finance team after a decade at Evershed' local office.

Ward Hadaway corporate finance head Martin Hulls said: "Mike is well known and highly rated in the North-East corporate sector, and his experience and enthusiasm make him a terrific addition."

Spetch joined Eversheds in 1997 when the firm took over Newcastle firm Wilkinson Maughan, where he was a partner.

He is the fourth partner Ward Hadaway has taken from Eversheds in three years.

Melanie Pears joined from Eversheds as Ward Hadaways' new head of public sector in October 2006 (The Lawyer, 4 October 2006), and followed Eversheds' former regional senior partner Chris Hugil in May 2006 and local construction chief Ralph Wrighton in February 2005.

Also joining the firm recently was Andrew Hoyle, former senior partner at local arch-rival Watson Burton, who was ousted in 2006 in a coup by the partnership (The Lawyer, 26 September 2006), and joined Ward Hadaway as a partner with a mandate to repeat the expansion he oversaw at his previous firm.

This is likely to include opening offices in Leeds, Manchester or both within months.

Corporate finance highlights for Ward Hadaway in recent months include engineering Tanfield Group's £115m AIM listing; the sale of the Henderson Pharmacy chain to Alliance Boots; and £38m worth of acquisitions for software business Sage.