Legal firm Fletchers Group has made its first move into family law with the acquisition of a practice with bases across the South and Midlands.
It’s the 10th acquisition by Fletchers in the past four years and sees the North West group move into the family law arena it calls ‘a people-centred, high-growth area ripe for consolidation’. Fletchers is best known for its serious injury and clinical negligence operations.
Its new business Rayden Solicitors (Raydens) was founded by Katherine Rayden in 2005 in St Albans and today employs 113 people with bases in Buckinghamshire, Essex, central London, and Birmingham. Ms Rayden will join the executive committee at Fletchers Group and Raydens will retain its brand, offices, and leadership team.
Earlier this year, Fletchers acquired Scott Rees and Shoosmiths’ serious injury practice – and the firm is continuing to expand in Birmingham, Northampton, and the Thames Valley.
Fletchers was acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners in 2021. Today it has more than 1,100 staff across offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Southport, Bolton, Newcastle, Birmingham, Northampton, Reading and Cambridge.
Peter Haden, CEO of Fletchers Group, said: “Our strategy is clear: to invest in brilliant specialist firms and help them grow more quickly, help more clients, and strengthen their organisation.
“We’re keen to apply the same successful approach to Raydens as we have in our serious injury and clinical negligence practice, moving at pace to build a national leader in family law through a mix of organic and inorganic growth.
“Our experience in scaling up specialist legal practices gives us a strong platform to support Raydens’ next stage of growth, drawing on our expertise in marketing, client service, people development, and the use of technology and AI to improve efficiency and deliver exceptional outcomes for clients.
“Katherine has built a fantastic business. With Fletchers Group’s investment and infrastructure, we can give her and her team the backing to accelerate their national growth plan, strengthen their market presence, and lead consolidation in family law.”
Katherine Rayden, founder and senior partner at Raydens, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us; we are delighted to be joining forces with Fletchers Group. This acquisition will benefit both our colleagues and our clients, whilst retaining our trusted Raydens brand. We will have access to more resources and support in all areas of the business, helping us to accelerate our growth plans and thereby augmenting our capabilities and our offering to clients.
“We share the same values as Fletchers – a commitment to providing the best possible results for our clients, based on industry-leading expertise and first-class client care. This acquisition is the natural next stage in the growth of Rayden Solicitors.”
