Merchant and St John’s form new ‘super set’

The trend of “super sets” being formed at the bar continued on Friday, when Manchester’s Merchant Chambers and St John’s Buildings agreed to merge.

The combined set, to be named MerchantGroup@ SJB, will have 90 tenants, bringing it into the same league as the largest sets – St Philips and No 5 Chambers in Birmingham and Hardwicke Buildings in London.

Tenants at Merchant Chambers, a specialist commercial set formed in 1996, will move to St John’s Buildings in September when MerchantGroup@SJB will officially launch.

David Berkley QC, Merchant’s head and its sole silk, will head the new set.
St John’s Buildings, a common law and crime set, was formed in October 2002 with the merger of two Manchester sets, 24A St John Street and 28 St John Street.

St John’s head Michael Redfern QC said: “The merger now completes the foundation of St John’s as a super set.”