Bevan Brittan expands to offer devolution advice

Bevan Brittan opened its first office in the North of England last month. As a sign of intent the firm has already named four new partners and also dispatched senior partner Bethan Evans to support the opening of the Leeds office.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Ms Evans said that the firm was advising “quite a lot” of clients across the country on devolution, both in the private and public sectors. And that the debate around devolution and the work around the Northern Powerhouse concept was one of the reasons why Bevan Brittan chose this moment to open up in Leeds.

She said: “We are advising both health and local government clients on what devolution may mean for them. What opportunities it may bring. How you might bring staffing groups together. How you might look at jointly commissioning stuff.

“A lot of this is going to be founded on good governance arrangements. How do you make sure that there’s proper robust governance, accountability, who makes the decisions, and that’s our bread and butter.

“We advise on all of that - how you set up new arrangements new shared services or bringing health and social care together. Devolution needs quite a bit of that.”

Another reason for opening its fourth office in Leeds was the existence of an already vibrant legal market.

Ms Evans said: “If you’ve got a thriving legal market it means you’ve got a good source of excellent lawyers who can then make choices about where they want to work.”

The firm, which has already hired four partners, says it will have a total of seven partners by Christmas.

The Leeds office will be a crucial part of Bevan Brittan’s operations. Ms Evans said: “We’ve got four offices now, so we are in London, Leeds, Bristol and Birmingham.

“Leeds is going to be an absolutely equal player with our other offices. There’s so much happening here, we’ve got a lot of clients here already.

“It’s definitely seen as an integral part.”

Ms Evans added that she was currently meeting business leaders in the region to gain a better understanding and also showcase to firms what Bevan Brittan has to offer.