Nelsons

Nottingham-headquartered Nelsons Solicitors kicked off 2013 with an acquisition of Derby's Bakewells, a move that strengthened the firm’s ambition to become a dominant force in the East Midlands legal market.

The merger was part of Nelsons’ strategy to become a powerhouse in the East Midlands, creating a near £15m firm and bringing its Leicester and Derby offices up to the same strength as its Nottingham headquarters.

The tie-up has seen Nelsons increase headcount by 35, with Bakewells’ three partners joining Nelsons partnership but not its management team.

With the focus on expansion, the firm hired a string of senior laterals in 2012 and acquired about £1.5m of turnover from nationwide personal injury business Advance Legal.

The move was designed to complement Nelsons’ existing high-end personal injury business, which generated around 26 per cent of the firm’s £11.7m turnover in 2011–12, with a more bread-and-butter ‘trips-and-slips’ practice.

Nelsons switched from an LLP to a limited company in 2010.