Lupton Fawcett

Lupton Fawcett acquired the business of Lee & Priestley in September 2012, a move that made the firm — now trading as Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley — one of Yorkshire's largest, with combined turnover at approximately £17m.

The tie-up followed what turned out to be an all but static year for Lupton Fawcett, with the firm’s revenue increasing by 1.6 per cent to £12.4m. Approximately £2m came from the Sheffield office, with the rest generated from the firm's Leeds headquarters.

While keen to achieve further development in West Yorkshire, Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley is expected to increase its focus on developing the firms Sheffield and South Yorkshire offering.

Last year, the firm'smanaging director Richard Marshall told The Lawyer that the firm’s ambition to grow to a £25m business through mergers and acquisitions remains extant. Its acquisitive trail has seen it take over Leeds firm Fox Hayes’ commercial and private client business in January 2009 and Sheffield firm Hackett Windle in August of the same year.

A number of under performing partner departures occurred during 2011–12, though significant lateral hires included corporate partner Andrew Lindsay, previously head of corporate at Denison Till in York, and tax partner Michael Hunter, previously a senior associate at Pinsent Masons’ Leeds office.