Andrew Magowan is a down-to-earth, perceptive, influential and adaptable senior executive, with both deep cross-business and broad industry experience, particularly in companies that are growing globally from a UK base.

As you’d expect of a long-time General Counsel, he is highly experienced in pretty much anything “commercial”, with an exceptional understanding of where value really lies that delivers innovative, tailored, effective legal, risk & reputation management, compliance and corporate governance.

After five years as a corporate lawyer in the City, Andrew has spent two decades at the helm of iconic UK-born businesses. His experience spans industries as diverse as aviation and airport retailing to global leaders in online fashion and fine wine, including ASOS and Berry Bros. & Rudd.

Andrew Magowan spent over 20 years as General Counsel inside some of the UK's most ambitious businesses - including ASOS, Berry Bros & Rudd, and Bristow Group - before asking a question most CEOs have quietly wondered: why does legal stuff always feel so hard? His answer: because lawyers arrive too late & are too combative.

Andrew now runs Relationship First Law, a strategic legal consultancy built on a core conviction: that the businesses most likely to land their long-term plan are the ones that prioritise their relationships, and proactively look round corners to see legal risk coming before it becomes a problem. Unlike traditional legal advisors, he works with CEOs and leadership teams as a pro-active thinking partner, helping them horizon scan, spot what could derail the plan, and move forward with confidence, all through a relationship-first lens. He is also a Non-Executive Director at the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and at the Middletown Centre for Autism, and is writing a book on why collaboration, not combat, is the smarter legal strategy for long-term business success.