Shakespeares brings in ex-Serco BD head to smash £50m barrier
Shakespeares has appointed a new managing director to help the firm achieve its ambition of breaking the £50m turnover barrier.
Paul Wilson
Former Serco group strategy and business development director Nick Brown has been brought in as managing director to work alongside fellow non-lawyer chief executive Paul Wilson.
Brown’s role will include driving the firm’s operational efficiency to make the most of its series of recent mergers.
Wilson said the rapid expansion of the firm, which has sealed six mergers in the past five years, has prompted the move, adding that Brown has been hired to continue its growth plans.
The firm’s £50m tie-up with Harvey Ingram has cemented its place as the Midlands second largest law firm behind Wragge & Co (23 July 2012), with the enlarged firm also posting its best-ever turnover and profitability figures in the last financial year (22 October 2012).
Like Wilson, Brown has taken on equity partner-equivalent status at the firm and will have responsibility of running the day-to-day business.
Wilson said that will free him up to work closely with the “ambitious partnership” to look at opportunities outside the firm to “continue to build a unique and larger business”.
He said: “If we planned to stay at £50m we wouldn’t need to bring Nick on board. But since we started this project we’ve always invested to stay ahead of the curve. We brought in Hamish Munro [former chief executive of Guildhall Chambers] and now we’ve added Nick to bring in his experience with infrastructure on a large scale.
“If we want to accelerate growth then we need a completely different skillset. The scale of our ambition gets bigger every time we do something in the market.”
Brown will be chair of the firm’s operational management board and will also sit on the long-term strategy board at Shakespeares.
Brown will now work with Wilson on reviewing plans for the next six months, with further mergers and acquisitions likely to be on the agenda.
Wilson said: “We’ll review exactly what we’re capable of doing. We’re stretching ourselves and acquisitive and have no intention of pausing or stopping.”
Wilson believes having two non-lawyers in the most senior roles gives the firm an “innovative mindset” and a “competitive edge”.
Brown, who has a background in group strategy and business development through seeking new markets and growth opportunities, added: “This is the structure we need to handle the future growth of the business.
“As organisations grow either organically or by merger, there will be pains. My objective is to avoid the growth pains.
“This is a firm that has substantial momentum and achieving the right balance in terms of its focus on quality, expertise and commercial good sense. There are real opportunities to strengthen the firm further and I look forward to working with the team to realise these.”
Readers' comments (10)
Billy S | 6-Feb-2013 11:04 am
Wilson looks like Russell Crowe.
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 11:08 am
Clever move. More firms could do with following a similar path.
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 11:16 am
I wish you every success. It is great to see some of the innovation coming out of some of these regional businesses. They will change the legal landscape whilst the big boys will fall behind and falter.
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 11:59 am
this is very interesting
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 1:04 pm
How many of the staff made redundant in Autumn had to go to pay this salary? and how many more will go in the next 3 months to balance the books?
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 1:46 pm
"Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?" The mob is fickle.
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Richard Chaplin | 6-Feb-2013 3:26 pm
Would you like to be referred to as a non-person? The constant use of the term 'non-lawyer' is offensive, arrrogant and, most importantly, a complete turn-off to those who may be interested in working for a professional firm but chose a career in management. Do law firms need management? Do people need air to breathe? Is it a surprise that ABS management teams are paid more than their service providers? Or that when selecting advisers, the majority of clients tell FT and MPF that the impression of being a well-managed advisory firm is an essential pre-condition? Sounds like it's time for another MPF crusade in praise of unsung heroes and second class citizens.
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Kevin Wheeler | 6-Feb-2013 3:48 pm
If you doubt the importance of ‘non-lawyer’ managers in steering law firms through the increasingly choppy waters of today’s legal markets, take a look at the management challenges facing law firms as revealed in the 2013 Report on the State of the Legal Market. This fascinating new study produced by the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center and Thomson Reuters Peer Monitor is now available by following this link
http://www.law.com/jsp/lawtechnologynews/PubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1359914432921&Georgetown_Study_Warns_Law_Firms_That_Major_Change_Is_Afoot&slreturn=20130106094614
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 4:12 pm
Kevin - thanks for the tip - the report is interesting and useful
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Anonymous | 6-Feb-2013 4:32 pm
I used to work with Nick Brown in the Rail Industry. I always expected him to end up as the MD of First Group or NX, this seems a very strange move.
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