
Lloyd: Unique approach
Private equity-backed Lawfront has made its fifth major acquisition and expanded to the South-East by acquiring Kent firm Brachers.
Based in Maidstone and Canterbury, it has around 200 staff and in the year to 30 April 2024 recorded a 16% increase in turnover to £19.5m and 47% jump in operating profit to £6.3m.
The deal takes Lawfront’s revenue above £100m and well on the way to its ambition to build a group turning over £150m. The group is owned by private equity house Blixt.
It follows last year’s deal for Manchester-headquartered Slater Heelis. They join Essex practice Fisher Jones Greenwood – the first acquisition in August 2021 – Farleys in Lancashire and East Midland firm Nelsons as the major planks of Lawfront’s group.
Lawfront has also backed two small tuck-in acquisitions for Nelsons and one each for Fisher Jones and Farleys.
Under the model, the firms are general legal practices that retain their brands and management but Lawfront has central operations servicing all of them.
The long-term aim is to have 60% of turnover coming from consumer legal services and 40% from advice to SMEs; no one practice area will account for more than 20% of turnover. Brachers fits the model of having a broad private client and commercial practice.
Lawfront chief executive Neil Lloyd said: “Our approach to the general legal services market is unique: backing firms’ management teams, preserving their client facing brands, enhancing the prospects of their people and bringing to bear our considerable experience in marketing, IT, finance, people and compliance.
“Our proposition is increasingly attractive to firms considering what’s next, as it addresses the major concerns of succession, legacy and the scale of investment required to remain competitive. Others may be considering entering the market but as first mover, we have scale and momentum that will be hard to match.”
This may be a reference to Horizon Capital, which launched its group, Adeptio, last October with the acquisition of Midlands firm FBC Manby Bowdler, and has plans for three more deals in its first two years.
Joanna Worby, Brachers’ managing partner, added: “We are an ambitious law firm with aspirational plans for the future, and our partnership with Lawfront is a great opportunity to accelerate growth and create enhanced opportunities for our staff and clients…
“Having the benefits of being part of a bigger group while retaining our brand and culture are a unique characteristic of Lawfront that made joining an attractive option to us.”
Speaking to Legal Futures last year after the Slater Heelis announcement, Mr Lloyd said the strategy was to buy another three or four ‘regional leaders’ over the next couple of years and then invest in their growth – the West Midlands, South, South-West and North-East were the areas to fill. He was also interested in moving into Wales.
In an interview to mark the first year of ownership by Lawfront last October, Nelsons chief executive Stewart Vandermark said Lawfront has invested “in a way that we couldn’t have done as an independent firm”, from support for acquisitions to marketing, particularly digital marketing, and people, with enhanced benefits packages for staff.
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