Irwin Mitchell director joins Co-operative Legal Services

The Co-operative Legal Services (CLS), the legal subsidiary of the Co-operative Group, has announced the appointment of Ian Powell to the role of marketing and business development director.

Powell has been the business development and communications director at Irwin Mitchell for 15 years and will join CLS in November.

Before that Powell held marketing and business development roles at professional services firms including DLA Piper and Legal and General.

Commenting on his appointment, Powell said: "I'm very much looking forward to joining the Co-operative Legal Services at an important time in its development. My aim is to help it to realise its potential to create a real alternative offering that provides its members and clients with an outstanding customer experience and real value.

"The Co-operative has a rich heritage, and with millions of members there is a real opportunity to build on this, developing its Legal Services offering and providing its members, clients and local communities with a legal brand that they know and trust."

CLS was one of the first three ABSs to be licensed by the SRA in March 2012, and was perceived at that point as the forerunner to other retail giants taking the plunge into the brave new world of liberalised legal services.

Earlier this year, CLS posted an underlying operating loss of £9.1m on a flat turnover of £33m for 2013. The legal subsidiary also took a £13m 'goodwill impairment' following a reassessment of its business plan. The company's operating loss, including the impairment, amounted to £22m, compared with a deficit of £2m the previous year.

In November 2013, CLS confirmed up to 60 redundancies in the personal injury department of its Bristol office, as a result of regulatory change and the Jackson reforms.

Managing director of C L S, Matt Howells, said: "I am very pleased to welcome Ian. He has a wealth of experience in marketing and communications, business development and digital marketing within the legal sector. He also has extensive brand management experience and proven capabilities in building a highly effective team to drive business growth in a fast changing market."

Howells added: "Ian will play a key role in helping us shape, develop and communicate our offering to both members and clients while also helping CLS to develop new products, services and channels to market."