Newbury law firm to merge with Swindon commercial solicitors

Legal & Professional

By Nicky Godding

11 June 2021

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Leading Thames Valley law firms Gardner Leader and Clark Holt Commercial Solicitors have agreed terms for a merger which will see the creation of a £12m turnover firm with offices in Swindon, Newbury, Thatcham, Maidenhead, Windsor and London.

Staff numbers will increase to nearly 160 with the addition of the 15-strong Clark Holt team. Philip Humphreys and Jeff Jenkins, the shareholders in Clark Holt, will become equity partners in Gardner Leader.

The merger the expanded company will have offices in Swindon, Newbury, Thatcham, Maidenhead, Windsor and London.

Clark Holt, Commercial Solicitors was formed in 1995 and specialises in corporate, commercial and commercial real estate, and is widely recognised as a leader in these fields.

Having been in Newbury since 1895, Gardner Leader has seen rapid growth over the last 10 years, expanding into Maidenhead in 2014 and into London and Windsor since 2019.

Derek Rodgers, Managing Partner, said: “Clark Holt is a very well-regarded and successful niche commercial law firm. Our two firms have had a very close relationship for many years, with Gardner Leader assisting many Clark Holt clients when they had needs outside the core Clark Holt specialisms. We know that their approach, ethos and culture are a great match for our own. We are excited to be adding such a high quality team to our firm to cement our position as one of the leading firms in the Thames Valley.”

Philip Humphreys, the managing partner of Clark Holt, said: “We were able to successfully navigate the challenges for our firm raised by the COVID pandemic due to our strong and loyal client base and the commitment and teamwork of our colleagues. Following an approach from Gardner Leader, however, we felt that the time was now right to take the “best-friend” relationship we have had with them for some time to the next stage. We believe that this will enable us to more easily access wider markets alongside our new colleagues and provide a wider range of services to our clients.”

Former partners of Clark Holt, Richard Clark and Jeremy Holt, said: “As the founders (since retired) of Clark Holt we strongly support the merger with Gardner Leader because of the additional legal services it will provide for the commercial clients of the firm.”

The merger should complete later this summer.

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.