A FORMER pest controller who penned speeches for cabinet ministers has joined an expanding legal firm.
 

A solicitor for the past 16 years, Aidan Loy spent a number of years at the heart of government, working in the Cabinet Office and the Department of Employment for heavyweight politicians including Michael Howard before he went on to become Home Secretary and Tory Party leader.

He also spent time based at the British Embassy in Paris after being seconded to the French government.
Born in Felling, Gateshead Mr Loy, 52, studied zoology at Durham University then tropical entomology at Imperial College London, prior to working in pest control in Zambia and later as a ratcatcher for Rentokil in the UK. He  returned from Africa because funding for the project he was working on was pulled and further research opportunities were limited, but his colourful career choices continued. Asked by his brother to name his ideal job, he said he wanted to be a spy so applied to work with MI5.  
He wan't hired but, having gone through the Civil Service Selection Board, secured a post in 1988 writing Cabinet papers in the Department of Employment, initially for the then Secretary of State for Employment Norman Fowler and also for Patrick McLoughlin, now Secretary of State for Transport.
Mr Loy explained: “It was an interesting job. I’d get a report from the economists and translate that into usable information for ministers.
“It was a job that required diplomacy. People ask me how close it was to Yes Minister – it was exactly like that. You were a gate keeper for the minister but also had to maintain relationships with MPs who might one day be your boss.”
He eventually became disenchanted with politics and decided to follow-up on a desire to study law. "I'd always harboured thoughts of studying law so after the Civil Service I took a sabbatical for two years then trained with a firm in Sheffield where I set up an employment law department," he said.
Mr Loy went on to establish his own legal practice specialising in employment law based in London and Sheffield before joining BHP Law as an Associate.
"I wanted to come back to the North-East and join a firm with strong regional roots, a medium sized firm that retains close contact with clients yet is ambitious and growing," he added.
Mr Loy has joined fellow Associate Paul Hargreaves in the firm's employment department based in Newcastle but operating originally across BHP’s other offices including Durham, Darlington, Stockton, York and Halifax.
BHP Law's Managing Partner John Pratt said: "Aidan has had a fascinating career including working at the heart of employment policy making and being involved in the communication of policy to the public and businesses during the 1990s.
"Since then he has run his own company as well so his experience of how employment law impacts on businesses as well as individuals is vast and will be a real asset to the firm."