Yorkshire law firm sets out ambitious acquisition plans
A YORKSHIRE law firm is on the acquisition hunt as it aims to significantly boost revenues.
Simpson Millar, acquired by debt management group Fairpoint earlier this year, is aiming to become a top 50 law firm by 2017 and plans to raise revenue to more than £60m from its current revenues of £16.9m. The law firm, headquartered in Leeds, says it will do this through acquisition and direct marketing.
“A huge chunk of revenue growth will come through acquisition,” Craig Jones, operations partner, told TheBusinessDesk.com.
“It is very exciting, but it’s demanding because we have to move quickly. There is a lot of work to do and exciting opportunities in the pipeline, which will be fantastic.
“We would like to pick up £20m to £30m of revenue though acquisition over the next three years – some will be large acquisitions, others will be small.”
Jones said the firm has its eye on a number of acquisition opportunities – teams and books of business – and says it won’t focus all its eggs in one basket – it will keep its options open. He added that Simpson Millar is looking for “like-minded” teams and firms. Recent acquisitions include Foster & Partners (Bristol), CC Law (Cardiff) and McAras (Leeds).
150-year-old Simpson Millar has around 308 employees based in 13 offices around the UK. The firm said headcount will increase due to the plans.
Jones added that Simpson Millar has always had ambitious growth plans but with the acquisition by Lancashire-based Fairpoint, it bought in further structuring and the talent and resource to help drive its plans further.
Looking ahead to 2015, Jones said the firm is now looking forward to getting good acquisitions across the line and to building a “really strong” platform for growth over the next five, 10, 15 years and beyond.
The law firm was granted Alternative Business Structure status in 2013. Under ABS, introduced as part of the Legal Services Act, new and established law firms can be run without the need for share-holding partnership owning arrangements. They can also receive backing from external investors.
Jones said the ABS status was a “great opportunity” for the firm and said in the market place he sees ABS as a “hugely exciting” opportunity.
