Midlands law firm Shakespeare Martineau has revealed that it wants to double in size within three years – and go even further beyond that.
Chief executive Sarah Walker-Smith said she is on the look-out for mergers, acquisitions, new recruits and existing staff to be promoted through the ranks.
And she said companies joining the business would be able to maintain their existing brands and grow alongside and within it.
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The business is said to be in “well-developed” discussions with several individuals and brands about joining it, and welcomed “approaches from interested teams”.
The corporate law firm, which has 800 staff, is headquartered in Birmingham, with offices in Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Sheffield, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Glasgow.
In recent years it has added companies including debt and loss recovery business Corclaim, personal injury and clinical negligence specialist firm Lime, Leicester town planning consultancy Marrons Planning and Leicester law firm Harvey Ingram.
Recently posted accounts for Shakespeare Martineau LLP showed a turnover of £70.7 million in the year to April 31 (which included the first month of lockdown), compared to £75.5 million a year earlier.
Operating profit was down 29 per cent to £18.2 million.
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Ms Walker-Smith said the immediate priority for the group now was to grow its existing brands as well as welcoming new brands under a new group holding LLP, across both legal and complementary services.
She said: “What we’re trying to achieve, for the brands we have and those likeminded people who join us, is the best of both worlds.
“So often in our industry large and aggressive businesses will acquire firms only to destroy the very heart of that brand and the reason they have loyal clients – we want to reverse that.
“What we’re looking for is teams, individuals and brands that are similar to our current offering to enhance existing teams.
“Also complementary locations, service offerings, routes to market, or stand-out brands – with a loyal client base – to join our professional services group and benefit from the economies of scale, bigger buying power, higher profile and access to a wider client base, while maintaining their own personality, identity and what makes them special.
“We will have heavyweight brands across the major 海角视频 regions, each playing a key role in their communities while together providing national reach and strength – providing clients with a superior integrated experience.
“What is crucial however, is that any brand or people we work with share our values and purpose. Culture is absolutely critical to us – so ensuring a strong fit and believing in a shared culture code is an absolute must.
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“The benefit of a portfolio, ‘house of brands’, approach helps mitigate risk for those businesses, brands, and people that join us – having a wider sector and service offering means we’ll be in a better position to weather future economic shifts and enable individual brands to focus on what they do best without limiting the broader group’s growth trajectory.”
Ms Walker-Smith said she was also “really proud” to have recently joined the firm’s membership which she said demonstrated her full commitment to its growth.