DWF: Sir Nigel Knowles to retire as new CEO named
Sir Nigel Knowles, the chief executive of legal services giant DWF, is to step down from the role after five years, it has been revealed.
The CEO will retire from the position he has held since May 2020 on 1 August but will remain with the firm as a senior advisor.
He will be succeeded by Matthew Doughty who is currently CEO of DWF’s insurance services division.
DWF, which is headquartered in Manchester, delisted from the London Stock Exchange when it was taken private by private equity firm Inflexion in a £342m takeover in October 2023.
For the year to 30 April, 2024, the firm’s net revenue increased from £380m to £435m in which Sir Nigel hailed at the time as “an excellent performance”.
In October 2024, CityAM reported that DWF had extended its office lease at the Walkie-Talkie building for another ten years.
The firm was one of the building’s first tenants when it opened in 2014.
‘This is the right time to step down’
Sir Nigel said: “I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made over the past five years.
“Through the talent and dedication of my DWF colleagues, the support we provide to our stellar roster of clients has enabled us to achieve strong and sustainable growth
” I want to thank all of those colleagues for their hard work and support, and also to thank our clients for continuing to trust DWF to be their advisers.
“Since our take private, I have been clear that I would step back from the CEO role at the right time.
“Having just completed five years as chief executive, I believe that this is the right time to hand on to a new CEO who can lead DWF through the next phase of growth.
“I am delighted that person will be Matt Doughty, whom I’ve worked with extremely closely during my time as CEO, and prior to that as chairman.
“Matt is the right person to lead the business forward and I will continue to support him however I can in my new advisory role.”
DWF is ‘stronger and more successful’ thanks to Sir Nigel
Steve Varley, group chair of DWF, added: “On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Nigel for his excellent leadership of DWF over the past five years.
“The business is stronger and more successful today than when Nigel took the helm, which is testament to his unmatched track-record for driving growth through building first class teams, a winning culture and outstanding client relationships. We will continue to benefit from his experience going forward.
“After following its succession planning process, the board unanimously agreed that Matt is the right person to build on the momentum that the group has generated under Nigel’s leadership.
“His experience at the firm includes roles within both our commercial services and Insurance Services divisions, together with a number of group leadership positions. He knows this business better than anybody and is perfectly placed to lead it forward.”
‘Exciting time for the group’
Matthew Doughty joined DWF in 2016 as a partner in the firm’s corporate services practice.
He has held a number of leadership positions since then including chief operating officer and chief strategy officer.
Doughty said: “I am delighted and very proud to have been elected by the board as DWF’s CEO.
“I take on this position at an exciting time for the group. Our financial performance is strong and we are growing in the UK and globally.
“Our client relationships are excellent, which is helping us to win in our chosen markets.
“We have an outstanding group of talented and purpose-driven colleagues who want us to grow sustainably.
“And we are backed by a single growth investor in Inflexion, whose support is allowing us to accelerate the implementation of our strategy.
“I am looking forward to taking on this opportunity to continue building on our success.
“I have known Nigel for nearly 25 years and worked closely with him for eight years at DWF.
“He is a friend, mentor and colleague and I would like to thank him for his work over the past five years which has put DWF in this strong position.
“Nigel is very highly regarded by our DWF colleagues around the world and we are delighted that he will continue to play a role in our future.”