Hill Dickinson makes debut with acquisition of Halliwells office

The entire business was sold in a number of separate transactions following the appointment of administrators BDO late on Tuesday.

Hill Dickinson will establish a new operation at Halliwells' former office at City Plaza on Pinfold Street after taking over the health, corporate, commercial litigation and property teams, which comprise 36 staff and partners

It comes after Kennedys established an office at Ventana House in Sheffield after taking over Halliwells' insurance practice, which includes 65 staff and partners.

Neil Thompson and Andrew Peel will head up the new Hill Dickinson office in Sheffield.

Peter Jackson, managing partner of Hill Dickinson, which is headquartered in Liverpool, said: "The driver behind our decision to acquire the Sheffield office was to bolster our already well-established healthcare offer and to extend our geographical reach into the Yorkshire region for the first time."

BDO business restructuring partners Dermot Power and Shay Bannon were appointed joint administrators of Halliwells late on Tuesday.

Dermot Power, BDO business restructuring partner, said: "Securing sales of the business to other highly regarded firms, which will protect approximately 700 partner and staff jobs, is positive news for the employees and the industry as a whole. It is well known that the firm assumed substantial property obligations in recent years which significantly increased operating costs.

"This, together with the slowdown in transactional activity in the current economic climate, put unsustainable pressure on cash flow and the partnership resources.

"Other professional firms will have to pay far greater attention to management and particularly cash management, following the stress testing of an LLP framework which has been less than robust."

Halliwells, which was headquartered in Manchester, employed about 690 staff together with about 136 partners across four offices in Sheffield, London, Manchester and Liverpool.

Barlow Lyde Gilbert and HBJ Gateley Wareing have divided the London and Manchester offices between themselves while Hill Dickinson also took over the Liverpool office.