Wragge & Co at last has the prospect of achieving its long-held dream of securing a substantive City merger, with the Birmingham-bred giant today (18 November) informing its partners of discussions with Lawrence Graham.
The proposed talks could create a £170m legal practice, with over 700 lawyers and a strong City presence.
Wragge & Co has named October 2013 as its highest billing month since the boom years as it joins the ranks of firms posting positive results for the first half (H1) of 2013/14, news which comes as Ian Metcalfe confirms he will be departing the firm to pursue other opportunities when he steps down as managing partner next April.
The top 30 Birmingham-headquartered firm has posted a group turnover increase of 4% to £63m, which includes the firm’s international offices both owned and affiliated, while the UK offices saw a revenue increase 6% on the same period last year to £58m.
Wragge & Co is so far unusual in announcing its mid-term profits and it has good reason to shout about them, as they are up 15% on this time last year. Continue reading “Wragge & Co sees H1 revenues and profits up as Metcalfe to leave after end of MP term”
Following an extensive review of its legal support services in May, Wragge & Co has made 26 full time equivalent (FTE) staff redundant with a further 65 roles transferred across to business process outsourcing (BPO) group Intelligent Office.
The BPO arrangement sees staff from across all four of the 502-lawyer firm’s legal groups – corporate, commercial, finance and projects; real estate; human resources; and dispute resolution – transfer to form a new document production centre, concierge hubs and a ‘docucentre’ for reprographics, post and archiving, all managed on site by Intelligent Office. Continue reading “BPO – Wragges transfers 65 support staff to Intelligent Office as 26 staff take redundancy”
Ian Metcalfe’s eight year stewardship of Wragge & Co as managing partner is to come to an end in April next year when current head of the firm’s projects team David Fennell will take over the role, the firm has announced.
Focusing on projects and PFI, Fennell has led the firm’s 12-partner projects team for the past six years, having joined Wragges from Herbert Smith in 1996, becoming partner in 2002. His stand out projects include advising Amey on two high-profile multi-billion pound highways deals in 2012. Continue reading “Leadership: Wragge & Co’s Metcalfe steps down as Fennell steps up”
Labelled one of the most important institutions in the pensions industry with £15bn of assets under management, the Pension Protection Fund yesterday (7 October) announced its new slimmed down legal panel, with Wragge & Co winning a first time appointment for the body as one of three core advisers.
International firms Clyde & Co and Dentons also won core advisory roles on the panel, which has shrunk from a total of 27 firms in 2007 to 23 following a comprehensive tendering process. Continue reading “Panel win: £15bn Pension Protection Fund reveals new line up”
The UK top 100 financial roll call has seen Wragge & Co, Watson, Farley & Williams, Trowers & Hamlins and Hill Dickinson unveil their financial results for 2012/13, with a number suffering a significant dent in their profit figures.
Watson Farley broke through the £100m revenue barrier, reporting a firm-wide increase of 2% to £102.1m, up on last year’s £99.8m. However, PEP has dropped by 13% to £388,000 from £446,000 in 2012. Continue reading “UK financial roll call: Wragge & Co, Hill Dicks, Watson Farley and Trowers reveal 2012/13 numbers”
In a move that stands out against the recent backlash towards business process outsourcing, Wragge & Co is to cut up to 30 full-time equivalent support roles following an agreement with Intelligent Office.
A consultation has been launched with affected PAs, secretaries and other administrative staff following a comprehensive review of the firm’s back office functions, which was launched at the start of the year.
Continue reading “Wragges to cut up to 30 jobs in BPO venture”
RPC has beefed up its corporate practice with the hire of three of Wragge & Co’s heavyweight partners as it targets more mid-sized deals for the largest FTSE 100 and 250 companies and multinational businesses.
The City Domestic firm hired Wragges’ former managing partner Richard Haywood and corporate head Maurice Dwyer. The duo joined fellow partner David Marshall at the beginning of the year.
Haywood was managing partner at Wragges from 2003 until 2006 and was also the firm’s corporate head. Most recently, he advised Premier Foods on the £182m sale of its canning division to Princes Foods. Continue reading “RPC expands corporate practice with partner hires”
Wragge & Co’s decision to launch in Paris sees its notoriously prudent partnership taking a rare gamble. Legal Business reveals the ambitious new strategy now underpinning Birmingham’s largest legal powerhouse
If you’re wearing a suit when you meet Quentin Poole you’ll feel overdressed. He looks more like a teacher than a lawyer: no jacket, top button undone, no tie. The softly-spoken senior partner of Birmingham’s biggest firm perfectly personifies the self-styled benevolent culture of Wragge & Co, a culture that ensures it is a permanent feature on the Financial Times’ best places to work list. But, like the firm, Poole’s unassuming demeanour masks a resolute efficiency that it is a mistake to underestimate. Wragges’ business ambitions are far from modest.
