Legal giant consults on office closures
SLATER and Gordon, the Australian legal group which has been an aggressive consolidator in the consumer legal market, is consulting with staff over the potential closure of two regional offices.
The group, which employs hundreds of people in Manchester and Liverpool after buying long-standing North West firms including Fentons, Russell Jones & Walker and Pannone, is consulting over the closure of offices in Failsworth near Oldham and in Derby. More than 30 staff work at Failsworth and 20 in Derby.
In recent months Slater and Gordon UK’s listed Australian parent company has been beset by a number of challenges , not least a crumbling share price amid concerns over the impact of regulatory reform announced by the Chancellor last autumn and worries that it overpaid for Quindell’s professional services arm, which was bought for more than £600m last year.
A spokesperson from Slater and Gordon said: “As part of a review of our property portfolio Slater and Gordon has begun assessing the feasibility of closing two of our offices, Failsworth and Derby.
“During this process we will work closely with all staff who will be impacted if a decision is made not to renew our lease on the site. All staff affected have been made aware there is the possibility of redundancy.
“Understandably, this can be unsettling for staff, but we will, where possible, help individuals find other opportunities within the Slater and Gordon Group.”
The spokesperson added: ” As always, our commitment is to ensure that our clients are not impacted during this process and we will ensure that they continue to receive the world class legal services they would expect from us.”
