Creation boss says takeovers likely in IP sector

A WAVE of consolidation in the Scottish trademark attorney sector has been predicted by the founder of one of the country’s newest IP practices.

Bryn Williams, who founded Hillington-based Creation IP in 2013, said the sector has seen a flurry of small independents launch in the last decade. But he expects that number to contract soon.

“When I started there were four firms, then it went down to two [Murgitroyd and Marks & Clerks],” Mr Williams said. “Then HGF came up from England and then attorneys just left the big two companies.

“There are probably be about 10 or 15 companies in Scotland now, so I think there is going to have to be a consolidation. I would say we are probably the fifth biggest firm. There are a lot of one man and two-man bands.”

Asked whether Creation was open to taking part in any consolidation through acquisitions, Mr Williams said: “Ideally. We will grow as we see fit, but we have to maintain the ethos of the firm. A lot of attorney firms wouldn’t like our holistic attitude towards our staff.”

Mr Williams, who currently employs four patent attorneys and plans take on a further three to five, added: “We encourage the staff to go for a walk every day, and it’s a half hour. They can take any time during the day and go out for half an hour, and we give them 15 minutes and take 15 minutes off their lunch break. A lot of firms would see that as £30,000 of billable hours lost a year, but I’ve seen a marked improvement in people’s wellbeing since we started doing it.”