Shakespeares targets 'leading Midlands firm' tag with Berryman merger
Shakespeare Putsman has merged with Nottingham-based Berryman, creating a £30m firm with 440 lawyers and staff across the East and West Midlands.
Paul Wilson
The merger was agreed by both firms yesterday and is set to complete on 1 November.
The deal follows last month’s merger of Shakespeare Putsman and Stratford-based Needham & James, which formed one of the largest practices in the West Midlands (8 June 2010).
Shakespeare Putsman chief executive Paul Wilson said the firm had decided to do another tie-up because the economic climate and the Legal Services Act in particular had made the legal marketplace increasingly complex and competitive.
“By merging, the two firms cement their position in the Midlands legal market place,” added Wilson. “As an ambitious, growing firm this merger will take us a step closer to establishing a leading Midlands legal firm. The merger also creates the platform for major investment in our people, infrastructure and branding.”
Berryman is the biggest single-site firm in Nottingham with 17 partners, six of whom are in the equity. Last year the firm fell slightly short of its 2009-10 turnover target of £6.6m but still managed a 1.5 per cent rise to £6.2m.
The firm used to be heavily reliant on its criminal practice, but refocused on commercial in 2007 when James Jarvis became managing partner.
In 2010, Jarvis undertook another transformation, reorganising the firm into sector-specific teams, breaking the work down into four key areas: life sciences, healthcare, TMT and rural economy.
Richard Brackenbury, chairman of Berryman, confirmed that in the short term his firm will continue to trade in Nottingham under the Berryman name.
“For all our clients, especially those based locally to us in Nottingham, the merger is in many ways particularly good news, as they’ll continue to benefit from an excellent legal team on their doorstep, and one that now has even more resource at its disposal,” added Brackenbury.
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Readers' comments (31)
Anonymous | 18-Aug-2010 3:33 pm
Now he's done something the partners can sack him.
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Anonymous | 18-Aug-2010 5:40 pm
It's a shame when people knock things due to jealousy wherever they come from and whatever their prejudices. It seems to be a common problem in the legal sphere. Good luck to SP, NJ and now Berryman in their merger.
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BLM | 18-Aug-2010 9:45 pm
What I can't get over is how on earth Berrymans and Berryman could both operate with such similar names. (I know Berrymans has Lace Mawer attached to the name but nobody calls it that)
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EC4 | 19-Aug-2010 3:06 am
Goodness me, what a lot of chippiness!
I suspect EC3 was being a little tongue in cheek - I don't know - but, to be fair, nothing of much significance really goes on in the legal profession outside of the City.
These sorts of stories do therefore seem rather irrelevant.
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Anonymous | 19-Aug-2010 8:36 am
ha ha ha, clearly still a recession in UK with so many lawyers with nothing better to argue about!
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Anonymous | 19-Aug-2010 11:05 am
to EC4, the fact is there is a huge amount of significant work taking place in the regions but London centric publications limit its exposure which in turn leads to that perception.
Personally I couldn't care less about Shakespeares as their merger strategy is random at best and likely to fail but I think it's disingenuous to devalue your regional colleagues as having no significance.
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Anonymous | 19-Aug-2010 12:49 pm
Always confuses me when the firm have had the "single site operation" as their unique selling point for several years, now choosing to have numerous satellite offices. Also must be really stressful for the staff who are in constant fear of their jobs every time the firm decides to make these announcements.
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Anonymous | 19-Aug-2010 4:15 pm
To all the people replying in indignant terms to EC3, EC4 etc: don't feed the trolls
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Badger | 19-Aug-2010 5:47 pm
Most ot the comments demonstrate arrogance or ignorance. The article is a proper report on a firm that will be in the top 80. Can all your London-centric contributors say the same of their own firms? If they can then the profession must be in dire straights if that is the quality of the people in those firms.
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EC6 and a half | 20-Aug-2010 5:30 pm
Great comment by EC3 and EC4 - designed to wind up everyone (I hope). I am in industry and have used regional and magic circle firms (depending on the work). Some of the routine employment and commercial work in the regions matches the City for quality and beats it for rates. Other work, well, its got to be the City. Don't put down those in firms in the regions - some of them are pretty good! As for the merger, why Stratford upon Avon? Nice place, but odd firm to merge with. As for Nottingham, it has more going for it, but why Berryman? Odd!
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