Getting into gear

Midlands firm Howes Percival has launched an automotive unit, which will be jointly headed by recruit Andrew Armitage, who until last year was head of legal services for the BMW group in the UK and before that had ten years as Rover Group's legal services director.

Fellow unit head Brandon Ransley, also head of corporate finance in the firm's Milton Keynes office, said: 'The automotive unit has been launched at a time of increasing instructions from this sector, and Andrew's vast expertise will support existing links and develop new ones in an industry that we consider to be of great importance.'