Isle of Wight: Biscoes merges with island law firm

A legal firm with offices across the region has completed a merger to open its second office on the Isle of Wight, expanding the firm’s clientele and allowing people on the island to access more legal services.

Biscoes Solicitors, one of the region’s leading law firms, with offices in Gosport, Petersfield, Portchester, Waterlooville, Wickham and Ryde, merged with Newport-based firm Wheelers Solicitors on October 1.

The merger gives business clients, individual clients and members of the Armed Forces in and around Newport access to a complete range of legal services.

As well as this, it adds an eighth office to Biscoes branches and its second office on the Island.

In 2018, it successfully merged with Heyes Samuel and Co in Ryde and Gurney-Champion and Co in Portsmouth.

This merger marks another important strategic development for Biscoes Solicitors.

Latest in widening its reach on the Isle of Wight, Nicholas Gurney-Champion, formerly of Gurney-Champion and Co, will jointly head the new Newport office with previous principal, Paul Wheeler.

Gurney-Champion was born on the Island and has a family tree which can be traced back more than 400 years of Island inhabitants.

Biscoes’ managing director, Alison Lee said: "We’re delighted to welcome our colleagues at Wheelers as part of the Biscoes team.

"As well as bringing fresh talent and new expertise into our organisation, this merger will allow us to work with businesses and individuals in and around Newport on the Isle of Wight who may have previously been outside our network of local offices.

"This move will bring real benefits to existing clients of both firms. We are especially pleased to have, as part of the Biscoes offering, a second office on the Isle of Wight that will be staffed by people who live on and love the Island.

"We can now offer to the residents of Newport not only property, Wills and estate administration advice but also a greater range of legal services, including civil litigation, personal injury, Immigration, mental health and family and fertility law advice to the residents of Newport."

In 2018, Biscoes, which has been running since 1864, was named Family Law Firm of the Year at the Family Law Awards and has, twice in the past four years, been named the Hampshire Law Society Law Firm of the Year in the Under 20 Partners Category.

In 2019, the firm won the LawNetUK National Enterprise Award for progress and engagement.

In the same year, it was awarded the Gold Employer Recognition Award in the Armed Forces Recognition Scheme - and was then only one of 150 businesses in the country to hold the award.