Bath-headquartered law firm Royds Withy King has appointed Ben Short as its first director of IT – a move that completes the line-up of its new business services leadership team.
Ben, pictured, joins the team – set up to drive the firm’s future growth – from Capita Specialist Services in London, where he was portfolio IT director for the financial services sector.
While at Capita his clients included the Department for Work and Pensions – on the replacement of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – The Pensions Regulator, the Flood Re-Insurance Scheme, Tesco Bank and the Co-operative Bank.
Ben will lead Royds Withy King’s 13-strong IT team to implement its three-year strategy, which includes managing significant investment in infrastructure, hardware and software as well as supporting mobile and agile working across the firm.
His appointment follows those of fellow business services leadership team members Kevin Peake, who joined as director of marketing and business development from national law firm Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, and Jessica Burston as director of operations from the Bristol office of outsourcing solutions provider Intelligent Office.
The team also includes director of HR Amanda Dow and finance partner Shaun O’Halloran.
Royds Withy King managing partner Graham Street said: “We are delighted to welcome Ben to our business services leadership team, which has been set up to help us achieve our ambitions and cement our position as a UK top 100 law firm.
“Ben has an impressive track record of working at the client interface, understanding their requirements and coming up with solutions to deliver a fast and effective service.
“He will be developing and delivering an IT strategy which supports mobile and agile working while ensuring our technology platforms provide our clients with a great service and our lawyers and staff with the tools they need to work smarter and more efficiently.”
Ben will be working closely with Dave Eagle, who has taken on the newly-created role of head of innovation and client solutions within the IT team.
Ben added: “I am extremely excited to be joining a firm that truly puts its clients at the heart of what it does. In an increasingly competitive market, developing a technology solution that provides staff with the flexibility and tools they need to do their job, while delivering services that are easy for our clients to use, will be key to our ongoing success and growth.”
Royds Withy King, Bath’s largest law firm, employs more than 500 partners and staff across its offices in Bath, London, Oxford and Wiltshire.
It achieved eight ‘top-tier’ placings in The Legal 500 2017 guide while 39 of its lawyers were ranked as ‘leaders in their field’ in the Chambers & Partners UK 2018 guide.
For the past five years the firm has also been named as a Sunday Times 100 Best Company to Work for and also received a three-star ‘extraordinary’ accreditation from Best Companies in 2017 – one of just six UK law firms to have do so.
