Mills & Reeve today (24 April) announced that it is to expand its presence in the North through a merger with Manchester-based law firm George Davies, after partners voted in favour of the move.
Public sector and sports law specialist George Davies will add around £7m in revenue to Mills & Reeve’s £69.4m, based on 2011-2012 results, consolidating the national firm’s position in the Legal Business 100 rankings where it currently sits at position 47.
The Manchester office, which will operate under the Mills & Reeve brand when it goes live on 1 June, will be part of an enlarged firm of 112 partners and 870 staff operating from six offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London Manchester and Norwich.
Guy Hinchley, Mills & Reeve managing partner, said: ‘We are very excited about the potential that our increased scale gives us in the North and the further career opportunities that it creates for the talented lawyers and business support professionals in our enlarged firm.’
Mark Hovell, George Davies managing partner, said: ‘As a well established, profitable, Manchester firm we have had regular approaches from firms looking to establish or strengthen their presence in the Manchester marketplace.
‘We chose to merge with Mills & Reeve as we have a lot of synergy with them and their culture closely reflects ours. This merger will enable us to offer our clients access to a wider range of legal services and specialist sector advice from the Mills & Reeve national practice and international networks and also to pursue new clients who have previously been beyond our reach.’
The enlarged Mills & Reeve Manchester office will continue to be based at 1 New York Street, where both firms are currently based just a floor apart.
francescsa.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk