Halliwells hires signal London growth strategy

Simon Hardwick, managing partner of 13-partner London firm Hardwick Stallards, and Finers Stephens Innocent property partner Nicola Armstrong have joined Halliwells.
Halliwells now has 10 partners in London. Partner Clive Garston who manages the London office told The Lawyer that, during the past six months, Halliwells has started to develop a twin-site strategy. "We want to become a UK law firm with main offices in Manchester and London. We see that the London market is bigger than the North West. You can only do so much in the North West," said Garston.
The Lawyer understands that Halliwells' London office is set to move into profit next year. Garston said: "Next year the office will make more than the investment put into it."
Halliwells also hopes that the expansion will allow it to take a larger share of the work from London clients such as insurer Legal & General.
But Halliwells has a long way to go to build a London site to rival that of national firms Hammond Suddards Edge, Pinsent Curtis Biddle and Addleshaw Booth & Co. Hammonds has more than 70 London partners, Pinsents has 51 and Addleshaws has 21.