Irwin Mitchell has strengthened its restructuring practice in Manchester with the hire of DLA Piper partner John Vickery, as the firm continues to build the commercial arm of its business.

Vickery, who leaves DLA Piper after ten years with the firm, is joining Irwin Mitchell's Business Legal Services (BLS) division. He specialises in corporate restructuring and recovery with an emphasis on contentious work, and in 2008 led a DLA team on the administration of Virgin Megastores spinoff Zavvi.

The hire comes after Irwin Mitchell took a four-partner real estate team from DLA's Manchester office at the start of the year which included Roy Beckett, who has since been promoted to the role of head of BLS Manchester.

Beckett said: "John is a superb operator and someone who is very well known in the market. He will be a big asset for Irwin Mitchell and will complement not only our existing restructuring team, but also our wider business offering."

The firm, which also runs a Personal Legal Services division, has added a total of 13 partners to its BLS arm in the past 12 months, with more hires expected shortly.

DLA's Manchester office now has 21 partners, according to the firm's website, with this number set to fall to 20 due to the impeding exit of IP partner Graeme Orchison to TLT's new Manchester office.

Other recent DLA departures in Manchester include Stuart Campbell (commercial) to TLT, Andrew Harris (litigation) to DWF, Christopher Bowes (planning) to Nabarro and Hans Scheiwiller (property) to Land Law.