Irwin Mitchell has strengthened its finance team with the arrival of two high-profile banking and asset-based lending partners from Squire Sanders.

Legacy Hammonds partner Andrew Watson will become head of finance at Irwin Mitchell's London office, while fellow partner Jon Bew is set to split his time between London and Birmingham.

At Hammonds, Watson led the finance practice and was also appointed to the firm's strategic board in 2009, while major clients that Bew has worked with include GE, Chesapeake and Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

Due to ongoing discussions over their exit from Squire Sanders, it is still unknown when Watson and Bew will take up their new roles.

The appointments are the latest in a line of senior hires by Irwin Mitchell following the November 2010 recruitment of real estate head Jon Vivian from SJ Berwin.

The firm also last year overhauled its management structure and practice stream make-up in preparation for its planned conversion to an alternative business structure.

Irwin Mitchell head of business legal services Niall Baker said: "We've been on the same page for some time. Both Andrew and Jon share our vision of taking things forward, they like our new corporate structure and are looking forward to creating true equity and building a business."

Baker revealed that the firm still has a "significant amount of recruitment" ahead of it, and is currently in negotiations with a number of potential hires.

He said: "In an ideal world, we'd like to bring in teams of people as the chance of bringing work with them is greater.

"That said, we are considering all options and wouldn't hesitate to bring in the right individual, and even consider a merger if we felt it was the right fit for Irwin Mitchell."