Paul has over 20 years experience acting as a corporate and commercial lawyer and acting as lead lawyer on large projects and significant corporate transactions. He has worked for multinationals like Coffey International, a global Australian top 300 listed company, Coty, the London based perfume company and owner of the Rimmel brand, the Universities of Bristol and University of the West of England and Royal Bank of Scotland and Hambros Bank, as well as a large number of national businesses. He helped design the corporate organisation for the Bristol and Bath Science Park. He was educated in Bristol and studied Economic History at Durham University. He has had an interest in Chinese history since schooldays and his dissertation was a study of trading relationships between China an England in the 19th Century. Paul has travelled regularly to China over the last five years. He was instrumental in bringing about the largest business trade mission in modern times to leave Bristol when he led the Institute of Directors’ mission to Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai in November 2012 following an earlier mission to Nanchang in 2010. In May 2015 Paul signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Guangdong Provincial Government on behalf of the Bristol and West of England China Bureau to promote relationships between the west of England and Guangdong province. Paul has years of experience assisting Chinese companies to develop their business in the UK and Europe including advising Holley Metering (华立仪表), one of the biggest meter manufacturers in China.