AGRICULTURAL and rural affairs private client specialist Laura Smith has joined professional services firm Knights to expand its landed estates department.

Miss Smith has experience working across Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire, providing advice to a range of agricultural clients across the region. She will join partners Kate Smith, Richard Williams, Brona Simmonds and newest recruit Sarah Denney-Richards and the wider landed estates team, allowing the firm to offer private client services to its wide range of clients in the agricultural, estates and rural affairs sectors.

“Knights has a really strong agricultural and landed estates team and I am really pleased to be able to come into a role here which will allow the firm to expand its services in this area of the business across the Midlands and South West,” said Miss Smith. "The team has real expertise in property and estates management as well as tax planning among other things, but we are now able to offer private client services specifically to our landed estates clients, so I am confident that this will complement the existing expertise perfectly.

“I have worked with Sarah Denney-Richards before, so it’s fantastic to be able to join her at Knights. It is a really forward-thinking firm, which offers something different and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to build up a new offering for the department.”

David Beech, Knight's chief executive, added: "I am very pleased to welcome Laura to the landed estates team here at Knights. She brings with her a wealth of experience in agricultural private client services, which will allow us to further expand our already extremely well-respected landed estates team. Laura has an excellent reputation and I’m sure she will be a huge asset to Knights.”