John Pickering, Group CEO of Irwin Mitchell, has surprised the firm by suddenly announcing that he will step down.

Pickering has spent 37 years before the mast at IM, so maybe it was time for him to be packing it in anyway. But insiders say that no one at the firm saw this coming. He has decided to spend more time focussing on non-executive roles outside the law. Pickering said that the legal sector was changing, and it was time for someone else to try and sort out the clusterfuck in which the firm finds itself take advantage of the opportunities that will present themselves.

Pickering will be replaced by Andrew Tucker, currently Head of Personal Legal Services at the firm. He, in turn, is rumoured to be being replaced by Stuart Henderson, Head of PI, although that has yet to be confirmed.

Pickering yesterday

In a statement the firm made much of how it's broken the £200m turnover mark, made five acquisitions and gone on a recruitment spree. It was less forthcoming about being banned by Google, splashing millions on a case management system that doesn't work, and being dissed by its own staff. So it's fair to say that Pickering leaves a bit of a mixed bag to his successor.

Glyn Barker, the firm's Chairman said that Pickering had decided that IM "should now be led by a Chief Executive who will lead the organisation over the medium term. Although I personally will miss John a great deal, this is an honourable decision, taken in the long term interests of Irwin Mitchell, and John has my full support."