Wragge & Co has strengthened its healthcare practice with the hire of a new partner in London.

Robert Breedon is set to join Wragges on 4 April from his own consultancy Nomos Legal, where he provides consultancy services to various in-house legal teams. These include the Department of Health, where he has spent much of his time as in-house counsel for the department's commercial directorate.

Breedon will become one of three partners working exclusively in the healthcare field at Wragges, with the wider group housing 11 partners.

Wragges healthcare head Bleddyn Rees said: "Healthcare is the biggest sector in the UK economy and it's very stable, even in the current climate with public sector cuts and reform. Those are the basic economic drivers but it's also about [serving] clients in both the public and private sectors."

During his time at the Department of Health, Breedon advised on matters including the UK's response to a pandemic flu outbreak and worked on major procurement projects.

Before setting up his own practice in 2006, Breedon spent around a year working in-house at BOC Group, having previously served as a partner at Morgan Cole for 10 years. He began his career at Slaughter and May.

Breedon commented: "The real opportunity for me is to help develop Wragges' healthcare practice, which is going from strength to strength. This is coupled with the changes in the healthcare market which, although challenging, are opening up a lot of exciting opportunities as well."