Contracts, terms and conditions, commercial agreements… these are the foundations on which every company is based.

My role as a commercial lawyer is to ensure that these are really fit for purpose so that businesses can flourish.

Worcestershire has such a variety of companies, many of them owner-managed. I relish the opportunity this gives me to learn about so many different sectors and to develop personal relationships with my clients.

I moved here from Brussels, where I specialised in competition law, advising large multi-national businesses on complex competition law cases.

But competition law is just as relevant for my clients here; smaller companies can equally be caught by the competition rules and the stakes are high – breaches of competition law can result in fines of up to 10 per cent of a company’s worldwide annual turnover.

Don't be dismayed by new home paperwork

Competition law can also be a sword as well as a shield – some of my most rewarding cases have involved using competition law to help new entrants or smaller companies challenge unfair business practices by dominant players intent on keeping competitors out of their market.

In those cases, as in the whole range of my work, the key is a real understanding of each business – its commercial needs and objectives, its market, how it is structured, and how it sees its future.

Armed with that knowledge, I can provide practical and commercial advice to make sure that a company has firm foundations on which to build its growth for the future.