Overview
Matthew Tossell is currently the most senior partner in Hugh James. Having had varied responsibilities and holding several senior management positions throughout his career, he is currently responsible for a number of major partnership projects.
Matthew was responsible for setting up the firm’s first volume business in 1999 in response to demand from several national lenders requiring a volume financing capability.
Matthew went on to establish a number of volume processing operations in various legal services throughout the firm, and eventually amalgamated these operations into a separate managed services division.
Matthew recently led the project which saw the firm’s two Cardiff-based offices, including its headquarters, relocate to the award-winning Two Central Square, one of Wales’ premier office environments in the key business district of Cardiff.
Outside of Hugh James, Matthew is an ambassador (and governance advisor) to Dreams and Wishes, an entirely voluntary charity dedicated to supporting seriously ill children and their families.
In March 2021, Matthew was appointed to the Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Business Council Board which comprises regional business leaders charged with informing and shaping the future of business in South East Wales.
In September 2021, Matthew was appointed an Independent Governor and Trustee of Cardiff Metropolitan University, and in 2023, as an Independent Governor of The Cathedral School, Llandaff.
Work history
- Partner 1987- to date
- Managing Partner 1999 – 2011
- Senior Partner 2016-2019
- CEO Involegal 2010 – to date
- Chairman 2021 – to date
Matthew started his career with Hugh James as an articled clerk and qualified into the firm in 1985. He became a partner in 1987 and worked in the newly created commercial property department, where he helped develop the firm’s social housing practice. He went on to create a secured lending practice and eventually created a volume retail remortgage department, servicing several high street banks.
Matthew was heavily involved in the initial regeneration of Cardiff Bay and the redevelopment of the Arm’s Park to Millennium Stadium (now Principality Stadium) in the late 1990s.
Matthew was the Managing Partner of Hugh James from 1999 to 2011. During this time the firm grew to become one of the UK’s Top 100 law firms and quadrupled its number of employees.
He also established the firm’s legal referral practice, originally as part of Connect2Law and then subsequently as Legal Network, servicing 228 law firms in Wales and London generating seven figure revenues for the firm.
In 2010, Matthew consolidated the firm’s volume services businesses and created Hugh James Involegal LLP, which he led as CEO. Involegal provided volume legal services to the banking, financial services, and corporate sectors across the UK.
Following the firms most recent 5-year strategic planning review, Matthew has now overseen the transfer of the Involegal business to the main Hugh James business to align the firm’s real estate and property finance services offering within a new combined group.
Matthew now runs a number of major projects for and on behalf of the partnership.