Grimsby’s John Barkers Solicitors has acquired two regional law firms, and remains on the acquisition trail as it bolsters services while giving itself the scale to grow.
Scunthorpe and Goole based Symes Bains Broomer and Grimsby criminal law firm Michael Culshaw & Co have been taken on, joining John Barkers as part of the newly created Humber Legal Group. The move has more than doubled staff numbers, with Symes Bains Broomer adding 57, and Michael Culshaw & Co a further five, to the original 51-strong team.
In the coming months the latter will join John Barkers at Telegraph House on Cleethorpe Road, while Syms Bains Broomer will retain its entity and locations in Park Square, Scunthorpe and the Port Office in Goole.
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Jonathan Stones, chief executive of John Barkers, said: “We very much want this to be to the benefit of our clients. Symes Bains Broomer has a very strong personal injury, contested probate and civil litigation team, and we both have very strong public law and private law. Together with Michael Culshaw & Co we look at the core services and we feel within the new group we are much stronger together.
“It is something we have been working on for a while, and hopefully there will be another two acquisitions, which we’re working on.
“Service is one thing, another factor is the level of professionalism now required in the legal market. Law can no longer be a cottage industry, when you need specific teams for finance, regulatory issues and IT. To justify that, you need a bigger base.”
Michael Culshaw & Co was an eponymous practice launched in 2004, while Symes Bains Broomer is the result of several mergers, the lineage of which can be traced back to the 1790s under various names in East Yorkshire.
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The most recent unification was in 2004 when Symes Bains - the Scunthorpe element - merged with Taylor Broomer & Co. Rix Mclaren was added in 2012, with the private client element of Heptonstalls added in 2020.
Rodger Price, managing director of Symes Bains Broomer, said: “John Barkers Solicitors resonated with our core values of innovation and client-centric practices, making this merger a logical step in our growth. “Given that each firm has slightly different specialisms the clients of both firms benefit by being able to access advice in a diverse range of areas they will find in their personal and business life.”
Howard Field will chair Humber Legal Group. He said: “Creating an environment where we develop great lawyers and support them in careers that will serve our diverse community has become key for both firms’ success. Both have an established reputation for providing quality legal services for clients in their personal and business life when it really matters and a commitment to Legal Aid work where it is available. As we grow, these core values can be offered to more people and a greater range of services is made possible. It’s very exciting.”
John Barkers has a further office in Louth.
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