Regional law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys expands through merger

By Nicky Godding

13 May 2021

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Top regional law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys, which has offices from Worcester (its headquarters) through Gloucestershire and Birmingham and to the Thames Valley and London and Cardiff in Wales, is in the advanced stages of merger talks with well-established firm Hewitsons, a move which will add new locations in Northampton and Milton Keynes to its existing network of nine offices.

Managing partner Rod Thomas said: “I believe that this will be a great move for both firms, our clients and our staff. As with all our previous mergers, this one is about growing the breadth and depth of legal advice we can provide to our clients. Hewitsons’ focus on people chimes well with HCR’s, an ethos which runs through our business, and means I’m sure that this merger will be as successful as previous ones.”

Colin Jones, managing partner of Hewitsons, said: “Joining HCR is a really exciting development for us. With the absolute focus we have on our clients we have found a merger partner in HCR which will enable us to further enhance the services we can provide to them and who shares our core values, including our strong commitment to our people. The merger will increase the career opportunities we can offer, provide us with a platform stretching from East to West and our clients will benefit from the full range of legal specialisms provided by the combined firm’s full-service legal advice capability, and strong regional network.”

The merger is expected to complete by the end of this month, resulting in a firm of approximately 780 people and £65 million turnover. The combined Cambridge teams will move into new premises and the Hewitsons London team will move into HCR’s office at 62 Cornhill, in the heart of the City.

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has more than 550 staff and partners based at offices in Cambridge, London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Hereford, Thames Valley, Worcester and the Wye Valley.

Hewitsons operates UK wide and has worldwide reach via its network of independent law firms, LawExchange International.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.