The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is set to expand its executive leadership team by creating four additional senior posts to strengthen governance, improve casework and rebuild confidence in its regulatory approach.
The changes come as the England and Wales regulator continues to deal with the fallout from February’s collapse of PM Law group, a Sheffield-based firm that operated 25 offices. The SRA said on Tuesday (21 April) that up to £39.5m of client money could be missing due to suspected fraud.
The revised structure will create new executive director roles covering supervision; risk, data and insight; general counsel, risk and compliance; and external affairs and communications.
The changes will double the size of the executive team working under chief executive Sarah Rapson, who joined in November, and are intended to provide firmer governance, greater capacity and faster decision-making.
The expansion follows consultation and a review of the regulator’s leadership model. Eight senior managers will now have responsibility for different parts of the SRA.
The SRA said its aim was to streamline management while broadening senior leadership capability at a time when it was under pressure to improve performance, handle complex interventions and restore trust.
To that end, Jonathan Peddie’s role as interim executive director for investigations, enforcement and litigation has been made permanent. Peddie joined the SRA on an interim basis in September 2025 and will continue to lead in an area that has been under scrutiny. Deb Jones has also been appointed executive director for transformation.
Peddie brings a background spanning the Bar, major law firms and in-house practice, most recently as chair of Baker McKenzie’s global financial industry group.
Peddie is expected to oversee a comprehensive review of the casework process, ranging from the assessment threshold test and improvements to quality assurance in triage and investigations.
He will also work with colleagues to develop alternative regulatory tools for investigations and to refine how the regulator responds to risk and misconduct before matters escalate, following the Axiom Ince, SSB and other recent collapses.
Rapson said of his appointment: “He brings a deep knowledge of the legal sector, and Jonathan’s expertise will be invaluable as we establish a more proportionate regulatory approach.”
Peddie said: “When I joined the SRA on an interim basis, my priority was to make sure that the public could continue to have full confidence in the profession. The past six months have reinforced for me the critical importance of a strong, agile and proportionate investigations and enforcement function as a foundation of trust and confidence for the public and solicitors.”
He added: “I am grateful for the opportunity to bring my experience of legal practice and regulation to bear.”
The reshaped leadership team also reflects personnel changes at the top. It follows the retirement of former chief executive Paul Philip and the departure of long-serving staff, including former general counsel Juliet Oliver, who has moved to private practice.
The SRA said the new structure aligned with its 2026 priorities, which include improving operational excellence, speeding up decision-making timelines and managing caseloads more effectively. It also wants more proactive risk identification, earlier compliance support and better collaboration. The new posts are intended to support a “step change” in those areas, including hiring a general counsel.
Rapson said: “I have been clear that the organisation must change if we are to become the regulator that the public and the sector deserve. We have a lot of work ahead of us to become a modern, proportionate regulator that is both trusted and effective.”
She added: “Establishing a simplified leadership structure and culture of empowerment will be crucial to achieving the scale of transformation needed. The changes we are making will provide greater capacity, renewed focus and more clarity, which in turn will improve the speed and quality of decision making across the organisation.”
The leadership changes come amid ongoing concerns about regulatory oversight and law firm failures, with the Law Society keen to see the SRA translate structural reform into operational change. The new chair of the LSB, Monisha Shah – appointed this month – will also want to see the regulator providing a stronger regulatory position. Peddie’s permanent appointment places an experienced investigations lawyer at the centre of that effort.
PM Law’s collapse now forms an important test of that agenda. Peddie has already been at the forefront of the SRA’s response, with the SRA now treating the matter as a potential fraud. In an update, the SRA said £39.5m in client money could be missing from the PM Law group following its collapse in February and the SRA’s intervention.
The intervention has been compared with the one involving Axiom Ince, where £64m went missing and later depleted the SRA’s Compensation Fund.
Paul Hastings, the SRA’s director of client protection, said: “We are continuing to do all we can to support former clients of PM Law, including by reuniting them with their money or files", adding that many clients “faced significant upheaval at a stressful time”.
Law Society chief executive Ian Jeffery said the latest update reaffirmed the serious situation facing clients, adding that the society “continues to be encouraged that the SRA has acted with openness and transparency”.
He added: “A case this large coming so soon after Axiom Ince and SSB Group, reinforces the need for the SRA to focus on their core regulatory role and deliver the changes needed to reduce the risk of future large-scale collapses and rebuild consumer confidence.”
Jeffrey concluded: “The Compensation Fund provides crucial protection and reassurance to consumers. It is unfortunate the SRA has had to use the fund in this case, and we hope any increase to the fund will be kept to a minimum.”
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