Ridley & Hall takes on 400 cases and string of staff as fellow Yorkshire law firm Berwins folds
Yorkshire-based Ridley & Hall Solicitors has taken on over 400 cases and a string of senior staff members as fellow Yorkshire law firm, Berwins Solicitors, fell into administration.
Ridley & Hall said it had agreed a deal to take more than 400 family and property cases from Harrogate-based Berwins Solicitors, as well as six of the firm’s staff members.
The move will also see Ridley & Hall open a new Harrogate office, located at the WorkWell Offices at Copthall Bridge.
It comes as Sean Bucknall of Quantuma Advisory Limited and Marco Piacquadio of FTS Recovery confirmed that they had been appointed as joint administrators for Berwins.
Emma Pearmaine, managing director of Ridley & Hall, said: “The fact that we were able to react so quickly and approach Berwinss to take on these cases, and offer immediate employment to a number of people, is a reflection of the strength and agility of our business.
“We’ve recruited some exceptional legal talent and we are delighted to welcome them to the Ridley & Hall team. We know they will bring a great deal of expertise to our business and ensure our Harrogate office is established on a solid footing.
“Equally, whilst it is obviously sad to see any legal firm, especially one of Berwinss’ history and standing, be in a position where it has to appoint administrators, our swift action has also brought reassurance to hundreds of clients who were potentially facing significant disruption.”
Berwinss operated from one main site in Harrogate and a further satellite office in Leeds. The firm specialised in family, property, and wills and probate law, employing forty members of staff.
The firm’s latest results showed a turnover of £2.4m.
The joint administrators were appointed following negotiations to secure the transfer of client files to a number of acquiring firms.
Commenting on their appointment, Quantuma managing director and joint administrator Sean Bucknall said: “The deteriorating position at Berwins was well documented in the lead up to it filing a Notice to Appoint Administrators.
“The firm had traded successfully for forty years, however, a combination of thin profit margins, the high costs associated with the renewal of its professional indemnity insurance and the withdrawal of funding support meant that it was not in a position to continue to trade.”
Berwins staff set to join Ridley & Hall include residential property specialists Michelle Crowhurst, Rachael Fell, Alice Hoyle and Jenny Spence, and family law experts Danielle Day and Rachael Lyon.
Ms Crowhurst will lead the Residential Property team, while Ms Day is to lead the Family Law team.
Ridley & Hall was first established in Huddersfield in 1927.
The firm expanded into South Yorkshire in 2021 when completing the acquisition of Newman & Bond in Barnsley, opened its Leeds office in 2018 and then acquired the Pontefract firm Bashforth Young in 2019.
Ridley & Hall now employs a team of more than 120 staff across five offices.