David Pester, the long-serving managing partner of Bristol-headquartered national law firm TLT, is to step down from the role next April. He will be replaced by corporate head John Wood, who has been elected to the post by the firm’s partnership.
David Pester, pictured right, was first elected as the firm’s managing partner in 2001 – making him one of the longest-serving law firm heads in the UK legal market. Only four major UK law firms are known to have had managing partners serving for approaching two decades. 
He will hand over to John Wood on April 1 next year following a six-month transition period, TLT said this week.
He will remain at the firm in a new – so far unnamed – role that supports its continued growth.
David Pester has been with TLT since its inception through the merger in 2000 of established Bristol firms Trumps and Lawrence Tucketts – where he qualified in 1987.
Under his leadership, TLT has grown rapidly from its Bristol roots to become a 1,000-strong, seven-site, multi-jurisdictional legal business working with major institutions, high-growth businesses and well-known brands on their strategic and day-to-day legal needs.
Revenues have soared from £8m to £87.6m, with 50% growth over the past five years alone. In July the firm announced it expects that figure to pass £100m “during the next phase of its development”.
David Pester said: “The firm has changed significantly during my time as managing partner in terms of size and depth of sector expertise.
“But it remains at its core a group of people who are ambitious for their clients and colleagues. I look forward to supporting John as he takes the firm forward through its next phase of development.” 
John Wood, pictured left, has been head of corporate since 2003. Over the past four years the practice has doubled revenues and expanded its capability across the UK.
As a member of the firm’s executive board, John Wood has also worked closely with David Pester and the firm’s practice and operations directors to drive improvements in firm-wide profitability – since 2017 this has delivered a 41% increase in net profit.
Over the past year TLT has acquired a specialist real estate firm in Scotland and made around 20 new partner hires across its UK offices as part of its strategy to build expertise and scale in its specialists sectors, which include clean energy, digital, financial services, leisure, food & drink, public sector, real estate, and retail & consumer goods.
As well as its head office in Bristol, the firm has bases in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, along with a specialist ship finance team in Greece.
John Wood said: “I’m looking forward to building on David’s success and delivering TLT’s ambitious plans for the future. We are an entrepreneurial business with a real appetite to think differently in terms of what and how we deliver for our clients.
“With the challenges facing the sector – our independence, culture and approach put us in an enviable position to rapidly drive change in how legal services are delivered.” 
TLT senior partner Andrew Glynn, pictured right, who oversaw the election process, added: “This is an important change for the firm. A strong governance structure, a considered and robust election process across the partnership and a carefully managed transition period will ensure we remain focused on the future and delivering for our clients.”
In July David Pester was made an honorary Doctor of Business Administration by the University of the West of England (UWE) in recognition of his services to leadership in business and the future of the legal profession.
He is also a board member of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), elected council member of the South West CBI and chairs award-winning Bristol-based animation studio Aardman’s Employee Ownership Trust, which was set up last year.
Earlier this year he was made a member of the Law Management Section Committee of the Law Society of England & Wales, is a governor of Bristol Grammar School and was a governor of Bath Spa University until last year.
