Coffin Mew has appointed two new partners to its Thames Valley office to strengthen the firm’s market knowledge in the area of international corporate transactions, and agriculture and rural business.

Tim Watkins joins Coffin Mew’s corporate team from an independent legal practice in the United Arab Emirates, where he spent 15 years managing cross border acquisitions and high profile commercial projects. These include the establishment of Abu Dhabi’s national airline, Etihad Airways.

'With Coffin Mew recently announcing turnover growth exceeding 30 percent, I am delighted to be joining at what is clearly an important time,' Tim said.

Derek Walsh will head up Coffin Mew’s agricultural and rural business practice. Previously he worked for 12 years as an agricultural specialist at another leading law firm where he focussed on representing farmers and rural businesses nationwide on sector-specific contract disputes, trading standards and regulatory investigations and property disputes.

Derek comments: 'I am very excited to be tasked with developing Coffin Mew’s agricultural and rural practice. Agriculture and food production is currently high on the British agenda, and with the inevitable changes ahead, farming and rural businesses will require sound legal and commercial advice. Having worked in the sector for over 12 years, I am looking forward to providing that advice to clients across the Thames Valley and the Southern regions.'

Coffin Mew CEO Miles Brown added: 'We are excited to see what Tim and Derek will bring in terms of knowledge, expertise and contacts. Their appointments are part of a wider strategy to increase our investment, deliver growth plans for the firm and broaden our service offer to privately owned and managed businesses. I warmly welcome Tim and Derek to the Coffin Mew family and wish them every success going forward.'

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