Grimsby鈥檚 Wilkin Chapman solicitors has been officially recognised as one of the country鈥檚 leading lights, with a first appearance in the lauded Times Best Law Firms 2020.

Commended for company and commercial expertise, it is ranked alongside major and mid-city firms of international repute, and is the only representative from the Humber region.

The Cartergate House-headquartered firm has described it as a 鈥渕ajor reflection of the strides made in recent years and the very high level of advice offered by its fee earners鈥.

Partner and head of corporate and commercial at the Grimsby office, Ian Sherburn, said: 鈥淚 am delighted that Wilkin Chapman LLP has been recognised as one of the Best Law Firms 2020, with specific commendation for company and commercial work.

Ian Sherburn, partner and head of Grimsby corporate and commercial, at Wilkin Chapman solicitors.
Ian Sherburn, partner and head of Grimsby corporate and commercial, at Wilkin Chapman solicitors.

鈥淭his demonstrates the outstanding advice being offered by the corporate and commercial team, with significant support from our employment, commercial property and dispute resolution teams.

鈥淚t is particularly gratifying, as the corporate team has advised on deals worth in excess of 拢400 million in the last two years and is the leading team in the region for high level corporate mergers and acquisitions advice.鈥

Complied by The Times and The Sunday Times, organisations only appear if they have been commended by peers in more than 26 categories of law.

Already this autumn the 拢24.6 million turnover firm has retained its position as 106th in the Top 200 Law firms as published by The Lawyer while also receiving heavy praise in the annual Legal 500 and The Chambers 鈥 two publications that use extensive analysis to rank organisations.

Wilkin Chapman鈥檚 Cartergate offices.
Wilkin Chapman鈥檚 Cartergate offices.

Wilkin Chapman also has offices in Lincoln, Beverley, Louth, Horncastle and Alford, and has recently acquired Doncaster corporate insolvency specialist Silke & Co, expanding its footprint into South Yorkshire. It has 46 partners and 450 members of staff.

In the , it tells the tale of the merger of sole practitioners James Whiteley Wilkin and Ernest Benjamin Chapman in 1900, and the substantial expansion in the mid-century, 鈥減artly to service the Ross Group as it grew from a fish merchant into a conglomerate encompassing a trawler fleet and poultry, frozen and fresh food producers until its sale to United Biscuits in 1988鈥.

It also highlights the recent advice given to Grimsby construction aid provider Fast-Form Systems, as it secured 拢1.5 million from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund to fund export expansion.

It adds: 鈥淭his year Wilkin Chapman, which was an early adviser to farmers over the erection of wind turbines, strengthened its position in the energy and renewables sector by collaborating with Myton Law, a Hull-based firm that specialises in shipping, rail and logistics, to provide legal services to the region鈥檚 growing offshore wind 蝉别肠迟辞谤.鈥