Talbots Law takes over third firm inside a year
AWEST Midlands law firm has completed its third acquisition in the space of a year. Talbots Law has bought out Worcester practice Scaiff, giving the firm its first-ever base in the city.
All 16 staff at Scaiff are being retained, with expansion plans already in place to recruit a further ten solicitors and administrative employees over the course of the next 12 months.
Talbots said it also planned to carry out “significant investment” in sympathetically refurbishing Scaiff’s the Grade II offices in Foregate Street.
The firm will rebrand as part of the deal to Talbots Law.
Chief executive Dave Hodgetts said: “While we’ve got offices in Kidderminster and Bewdley, we’ve never had a high street presence in Worcester.
“This acquisition gives us an immediate footprint in a city and area rich in potential.
“Scaiff has been operating here for more than 30 years and has a proven track record of offering family, personal injury, wills and probate and residential conveyancing services to local people.
“All this expertise is being retained and will be supplemented by the additional capacity and infrastructure we can offer and access to business services and dispute resolution legal advice. Annual fees are currently £1.2 million and we expect these to increase to £2 million by the end of 2024.”
Scaiff’s managing partner Simon Shaw will stay in post following completion of the deal.
He added: “Our existing clients will benefit from having access to a larger team and new legal specialisms that we haven’t been able to offer before. On the flip side, we are bringing considerable personal injury expertise to Talbots which I know is an area it is keen to grow in.”
Scaiff is the third acquisition made by Talbots Law in the past year, following deals to buy Sarginsons in Coventry and Wright Solicitors, with offices in Dudley and Bewdley.
Revenue rose by £2 million to £24 million last year, with a £30 million target set for 2025, with further acquisition deals planned, both in the West and East Midlands.
Talbots Law was founded in 1828 and has 450 staff located in 11 offices across the Black Country, Birmingham, Coventry and Worcestershire. Independent merger brokering specialist Millbourn Ross advised on the deal whose terms were not disclosed.