One way:

If the first name is always followed by a left paren, as well:

H2: =TRIM(MID(LEFT(A2,FIND("(",A2)-1),FIND(",",A2)+1,255))
I2: =LEFT(A2,FIND(",",A2)-1)


In article <587a46a3fb6a8@uwe, "Mark Y via OfficeKB.com" <u12713@uwe
wrote:

Hello all,

I have some text in cells A2 - A646 as below

Smith, John (LD)
Gummerson, Liz (SDLP)

The lengths of names are variable but first name is always seperated by a
comma and second name is followed by a space.

What I need to do, if possible, is to copy the first name into cell H2 and
second name into cell I2

Is there any straightforward way of doing this?

Many thanks in advance

Mark
www.familyfund.org.uk