National law firm to open second Northern office
LAW firm Shoosmiths has today confirmed plans to open an office in Yorkshire – its second in the North.
The firm’s Leeds office will open later this year – a specific date has not yet been confirmed – giving it 11 locations across the UK, including Manchester.
Two new partners have been announced as the first appointments as part of the expansion – employment partners Simon Robinson and Phil Crowe will join the firm from Gordons to spearhead the opening of the office.
When TheBusinessDesk first heard rumours of Shoosmiths’ plans for a Leeds office, back in April, we were told by the firm that it had “no current plans for Leeds”, despite it recruiting real estate partner Barbara Rollin from Gordons in Leeds.
What a difference three months makes. The firm has today said the expansion is part of its ongoing strategy to take a larger share of the UK legal market.
Claire Rowe, Shoosmiths chief executive, said: ‘This exciting move into Leeds will enable us to access one of the largest legal markets in the UK outside of London, bringing both new people and clients to the firm.
‘We have an ambitious growth strategy, which includes taking a larger share of the domestic market, and have chosen to build our practice organically through carefully planned expansion of our teams and services across locations, in response to client demand.”
She added: “Although we already advise clients based in Yorkshire, this new office will enable us to develop more work from some of the largest national and international corporates in that region.
“We plan to create a Northern hub of legal expertise for Shoosmiths’ clients with our Leeds and Manchester offices working closely together and anticipate recruiting specialists in key fields including corporate, real estate and commercial disciplines to help us fulfil that goal.”
Nationally, Shoosmiths has fee income of £107m in 2014/15 and profits of £25.1m. PEP dropped 12% to £365,000 due to the majority of Shoosmiths’ salaried partners becoming equity partners in May 2015 – the firm now has 36 equity partners.
The firm’s Manchester office was opened in 2008 with the recruitment of a team of six and now has over 150 people. It has signed up to Allied London’s new XYZ building, where it will take 32,000 sq ft over two floors to accommodate its ambitious growth plans.
The company will take occupancy in January and has temporarily relocated to Allied London’s Old Granada Studios site until then.
Manchester clients include Santander, Lancashire-based medical insurance company Chase Templeton, for whom Shoosmiths have advised on some 40 acquisitions in just three years, and NVM Private Equity. Other clients include Palatine Private Equity, consumer and SME finance company Rentsmart and online car finance company Zuto.
