Gorvins Solicitors prides itself on the top-quality legal services we offer to our clients. We can only achieve that with the very best people guiding clients through every stage of their legal matter.
In our Meet the team series, we shine a light on the people behind the work. This time, we meet Andrew Curwen, Senior Partner and Head of Corporate.
What’s your role at Gorvins?
I’m Senior Partner and a corporate solicitor by trade. Day to day, that means working on private company mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, and the equity and debt side of transactions.
I also tend to be the person people come to at Gorvins for banking matters. I’ve worked on many leveraged finance deals and acquisition finance facilities over the years. Whilst some can be complicated and detail-oriented, my depth of experience means clients and colleagues know they can bring complex funding questions to me.
I’m head of the Corporate team, running it in partnership with Christian Mancier. We’ve got a talented team of eight fee earners and are lucky to work with a wide-ranging group of clients. In addition to legal support for buying and selling their businesses, clients are increasingly looking to us for support with wider commercial decision-making.
Corporate work also feeds into the rest of the firm. On a transaction, we’ll often work closely with colleagues in commercial property and employment, and for many clients we’re the first port of call when they need legal advice.
My career journey
I studied geography at Durham University and whilst I really enjoyed it, as I got closer to the end of my degree, I started thinking about what might suit me in the long term. I felt that law would suit my skillset and personality well, so headed off to Chester Law college to take the conversion course.
From there, I became a trainee (or rather an Articled Clerk….it was that long ago!!) at Cobbetts in Manchester in 1992, qualified in 1994, and became a partner there in 2000. In 2003 I moved on to head up the corporate team at Rowe Cohen, building a team from scratch.
After a period of change within the business, it felt like the right moment for a new challenge. Gorvins was looking to strengthen its corporate team, and it was a great opportunity to join a firm with a strong reputation, good people, and the right platform to build something.
I joined Gorvins in 2007, just before the credit crunch, which certainly made the early years more challenging than anyone expected. But the team had – and still has – talented people who made sure we saw through the storm relatively intact, and kept moving forward.
At law college, the area of law that I had no interest in was corporate/commercial. Then my first seat as a trainee at Cobbetts was corporate and commercial, I got involved in a couple of private equity deals, and loved it. The power of a good mentor over an average lecturer.
And proof if ever it was needed not to close your mind to possibilities!
Why Gorvins?
A few things came together at the right time.
I’d already dealt with some of the partners here on transactions, so I had a feel for the people and the way they worked. Gorvins also had a great reputation outside Manchester city centre, and there was a clear opportunity to develop and grow, backed by a firm that genuinely supported that ambition.
I came in with a clear progression pathway, and we both delivered what we said we would.
That mix of trust, opportunity, and culture should be a big draw for any ambitious lawyer.
One piece of advice you’d give to for clients
Prepare early.
On transactions, the deals that run most smoothly are the ones where the groundwork has been done upfront, so due diligence doesn’t throw up surprises that could have been avoided.
I’d also say that a business sale is often an emotional process. For many owners, it’s their baby. They’ve built the business up over the years and the transaction can feel like letting go of a lifetime’s work. Clients also have to deal with solicitors while trying to do their day job.
So keep perspective. A purchase agreement might be 100 plus pages, but most deals come down to five or six key points. Let your solicitors do the heavy lifting on the bulk of the documentation, and focus your energy on the handful of issues that really matter to you.
Away from the desk
My children are at university or starting work, so I’ve got a bit more freedom to travel. A recent trip to Chile set a fairly high bar, but hopefully that’s just the start.
Sport and outdoor activities have always been an important part of my life. I’ve climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, played football until a couple of years ago, run the London Marathon and multiple half-marathons (although I’m not sure my knees have forgiven me). I also play golf, although I definitely played it properly when I was younger. I played at county level as a junior and captained my university team. Golf seems more like a war of attrition now, though!
Work before the law was always interesting. I grew up in Lancaster and did the usual seasonal jobs, including pub work, but for two summers I was a main-stage bingo caller at one of the big clubs in Morecambe. I was persuaded to rekindle that talent for a stint at prize bingo at last years Gorvins Christmas party.
At university, I was also a DJ. Durham was a cultural desert for indie nights at the time, so a friend and I decided to do something about it and started our own student union night. Fun times!