Law company to have new senior partner

PARTNER Godfrey Pickles (right) who retires from Wrigley Claydon solicitors, with Vijay Srivastava who is taking over

OLDHAM law firm Wrigley Claydon has announced a number of personnel changes including the retirement of a senior partner.

Godfrey Pickles is retiring as senior partner and handing over to Vijay Srivastava.

Wrigley Claydon has offices on Union Street, Oldham, and also in Todmorden, and Mr Pickles has been with the firm for more than 30 years.

He has worked over a broad range of domestic and commercial law matters, including wills, probate, tax planning, landlord and tenant matters and private wealth management, and also serviced a major building society.

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Mr Pickles, a keen walker and golfer, is member of Todmorden Golf Club and a Burnley FC supporter.

Mr Srivastava is taking over the role and has also been with Wrigley Claydon for 30 years.

He attended Hulme Grammar School before studying law at Leeds University. He completed his solicitors professional exams in London before being invited by Wrigley Claydon to undertake his articles of association, the final step to becoming a solicitor.

Two years after joining the Oldham firm, he was invited to join the partnership and became one of the youngest partners in the country.

Wrigley Claydon partner John Porter said: "Vijay is well-known in the Oldham area. He specialises in civil litigation and dealt with a number of high-value cases in the High Court while also being joint managing partner of the firm.

Married with two children, Mr Srivastava is also chairman of governors at Hulme Grammar School, a trustee of Francis House Children's Hospice and active in his local church.

Mr Srivastava said: "It is an honour to have been appointed senior partner of a firm that has such a long and distinguished heritage and to follow in the footsteps of many illustrious legal minds who have contributed to the success of Wrigley Claydon."

Mr Porter said Wrigley Claydon is Oldham's oldest continuous business of any kind, having been founded in 1795.

The firm originated in the Mumps area and represented many cotton industry figures. As the town centre developed, it moved along Union Street to the Prudential Buildings and then to its present location.