Expansion strategy on track for Shulmans

Expansion strategy on track for Shulmans
SHULMANS believes recent changes to its management team will allow the law firm to experience further growth as it gears up to move office.

SHULMANS believes recent changes to its management team will allow the law firm to experience further growth as it gears up to move office.

Founder Jeremy Shulman has stepped down as chairman from the Leeds-based firm’s board.

As a senior partner, Mr Shulman will return to carry out corporate finance and employment work and also work on behalf of high net worth individuals.

Simon Jackson, head of commercial property, and Rosemary Edwards, head of residential development, have been elected to the management board.

Richard Wadkin, a dispute resolution lawyer, Paul Beales, head of business support, and managing partner Tim Halstead are the other three members of the board.

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com, Mr Halstead said Shulmans’s strategic expansion plan was on track as the firm had increased staff number by a third – to 120 – over the last three years.

And the firm’s move to “the heart of the business district of Leeds” will further accelerate the final two years of that growth plan, Mr Halstead said.

Shulmans is to take 15,000 sq ft of space across two floors in a new office development at MEPC’s Wellington Place scheme. No 10 Wellington Place will offer a total of 35,000 sq ft over five floors with Shulmans expected to move in next year. The ground will be broken as construction work starts next week.

Mr Halstead added: “It really gives us the opportunity to start afresh with a new template. We said we want to be a great place to work and I think we are.”

The move includes a £1.2m investment in the firm’s IT infrastructure, including the latest in ‘Cloud’ software.

Commenting on the firm’s five year growth plan, Mr Halstead said: “We’re three years into that and we’re well ahead of the game. It may sound dull but we’ve achieved that by careful planning. The plan had 73 separate action points. One of those was recruiting new people and those who could add to the business. Some have brought work; others have brought new disciplines.

“We know our culture and we’ve been around for more than 30 years; that’s important.”

Annual turnover is now £7.8m, having been £5.2m three years ago.

Mr Shulman said the firm had no plans to merge with other outfits in Yorkshire or beyond.

“In this environment most mergers go ahead because of a lifeboat situation”, he said. “If we were doing it it would be because it would be right for the business and synergies.”

“We’d prefer a bolt-on rather than a bolt-hole,” added Mr Halstead.

Mr Shulman, who said he was keen to return to day-to-day legal work, believes Shulmans has benefited from the fact it is a Yorkshire-based firm and can offer services for better value than some of the bigger players.

Sectors Shulmans has moved into and is looking to grow include pharmaceuticals, foreign investment and business recovery.

“Our corporate finance team is doing much better than we had expected over the last 18 months,” added Mr Shulman. “And that’s not much to do with finance from the banks. It’s private equity deferred considerations. Entrepreneurs are looking to do deals despite the banks.

Commercial property specialist Andrew Latchmore will no longer be on the board at Shulmans as part of the reorganisation.

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