DWF confirms takeover of Newcastle firm Crutes
North West firm DWF is set to merge with Newcastle firm Crutes, with the latter being incorporated into DWF on 1 January 2012.
Andrew Leaitherland
The takeover will make DWF an £88m firm. Crutes is a £5m firm with 16 partners across three offices. The firm specialises in insurance, with supporting commercial and private client teams.
The move follows DWF’s announcement in May that it intended to launch a full-service practice in Newcastle after hiring Dickinson Dees partner John Flynn as executive partner (6 May 2011).
In a statement DWF managing partner Andrew Leaitherland said: “Crutes is a natural fit, its outstanding insurance credentials combined with its sector strengths align very clearly with our own. Our combined strengths mean we will have an enhanced offering for businesses across the North East.
“We’re committed to growth and investment in the region and see it as a key area for expansion over the next few years. The North East is a dynamic marketplace with plenty of opportunities.”
In July DWF announced that it was launching a Birmingham office after hiring Shoosmiths’ head of finance (28 July 2011). DWF’s turnover rose 15 per cent in the 2010-11 financial year (30 June 2011) to £83m.
At the half-year stage for 2011-12 turnover increased 15 per cent compared with the same period in 2010-11, to £45m (10 November 2011).
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Readers' comments (38)
Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 5:30 pm
"Crutes are not a Newcastle firm. They are in Gateshead." Get a map! The Crutes head office is next door to the Civic Centre in the centre of Newcastle. Up here we call that Newcastle.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 5:47 pm
Anyone else find it ironic that the firm who thinks Crutes is based in Gateshead is called The Law Map? Sometimes this stuff just writes itself.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 6:01 pm
Oooh somebody's a bit touchy about their roots showing.
Don't much care if you're in Mayfair, you're still from Gateshead...
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Crutes Staff Member Spouse | 25-Nov-2011 7:20 pm
This may be great news for the senior partners, but the loyal staff within Crutes are very much in the dark over their own futures with regards to jobs. To receive this news at this time of the year is very dissappointing from what is a well regarded Law Firm. Some thought should be given to the colleagues in what is a difficult market place to look for new jobs - if they need to - as yet they don't know one way or the other.
Come on Crutes you're better than that, let your staff know what the future holds for them.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 10:30 pm
What is with all the Gateshead talk? you are arguing black is white...are you on drugs? Sounds like someone has an axe to grind. Ps the beatles are from manchester...no, no they really are.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 10:51 pm
Well done to Dixon Dees for resisting the merger with DWF. Your all partner based approach will show through!
Genuinely, I love my ex-firm Dickie Dees and hope they (somehow) get rescued.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 10:54 pm
I'm sure this is a clever acquisition by DWF.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 10:57 pm
I do not understand this oddball Gateshead argument. Well done guys - you're great.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 11:13 pm
Crutes joining dWF is good. Don't listen to them. Rivals are goof.
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Anonymous | 25-Nov-2011 11:58 pm
So DWF finally finds its Newcastle bride. After the firm said no to Watson Burton (we cannot deal with you management so we will just pick partners off thanks), Ward Hadaway said no thank you and the Dees was left in Munter's Corner at the school disco, Crutes says yes. Enables DWF to have a proper office in Newcastle now, obtain a decent insurance practice and many sensible lawyers, Crutes gets some clout after doing okay but drifting a bit. Watch Watson Burton's prof indem practice move across now.
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Anonymous | 26-Nov-2011 9:09 am
Not surprising that a big firm has swooped.
Newcastle has some brilliant law firms with many adept lawyers. Eversheds, Muckle, Dickie Dees and even Watson Burton have some specialists right at the top of their game.
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Anonymous | 26-Nov-2011 9:18 am
I'm not convinced that Ward Hadaway, Muckle or Dickie Dees are angling for a merger. I think they have strong business models on their own and don't need to risk the unknowns of partnering up.
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Anonymous | 26-Nov-2011 9:21 am
PS Crutes are based in NE1, why though would it have mattered if this excellent firm had been in Gateshead?
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Anonymous | 26-Nov-2011 12:09 pm
Anyone else find the Gateshead stuff strange?
Well done to both parties, I'm sure lots of work has gone into this partnership.
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Anonymous | 26-Nov-2011 2:00 pm
DD partners are hardly quaking in their boots over this. Sure, it will bring challenges to the whole NE market, but it's not as though come 1 Jan 2012, a thousand DWF lawyers will descend on Newcastle. There'll still only be the few they had before plus Crutes' staff (before DWF close Carlisle, which is inevitable). It'll take years before they close in on DD, and their current specialisms (insurance litigation and defendant PI and clinical neg) are not undertaken in any serious way by DD. It's Ward Hadaway and Watson Burton who are really in trouble over this.
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Anonymous | 27-Nov-2011 6:51 pm
The main Crutes office is definitely in Newcastle (by Haymarket).
Crutes are really popular in Newcastle. However now they're going to be challenging the big 3, I expect the other firms won't be so generous with their praise.
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Anonymous | 28-Nov-2011 7:42 am
Good times. Wonder if DWF intend to manage with that small team or if they'll start hiring?
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Anonymous | 28-Nov-2011 6:04 pm
DWF's aggressive take over strategy epitomises their hunger for expansion and profits......seemingly above all else....... but Customer care HAS to go hand in hand....................for a truly successful company.
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