Alice and Robyn discuss a merger for two prominent law firms, private equity backing for an Exeter software business, MIPIM and DWF's revamped Liverpool office.
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00:00A merger for two law firms, private equity backing for a technology company, and Mippin.
00:05We're discussing all of that on today's business briefing.
00:14Morning Robin.
00:15Morning Alice.
00:16So what have you seen in the news today?
00:18So a big story in the world of law today is that two Yorkshire and East Midlands law firms
00:22are set to merge and they're going to create a £40m turnover business that employs more
00:27than 500 people.
00:28Oh wow.
00:29Yeah, so the law firms that are merging are Wilkin Chapman and Rollitz and they're set
00:34to merge under the trading name of Wilkin Chapman Rollitz, so not much changing really
00:38from the 1st of April.
00:40So together the firm will have more than 500 people including 70 partners and a combined
00:45annual turnover of £40m.
00:47They're going to operate from six locations at Grimsby, Lincoln, Louth, Hull, York and
00:52Beverley.
00:53So yeah, exciting times in Yorkshire there.
00:55So the merged firm is expected to offer greater strength and depth to its clients across the
00:59commercial and public sectors.
01:00I wonder if that's a bit of a trend, because in the North East we recently had Ward Hadaway,
01:05they've got sites in Manchester and Leeds as well.
01:08They said that they're in merger talks with the Endeavour Partnership, so it seems like
01:12something that might be happening.
01:13A lot of consolidation in the law sector maybe.
01:15Well we've seen it in property as well with big mergers recently.
01:18Yeah, for sure.
01:19Well moving over to Exeter, software provider Reflow has secured investment from Kester
01:24Capital, which will enable it to accelerate organic growth and also support product development.
01:30So the business was established by Mike Saunders, who was actually a film student in the 90s
01:35in Surrey.
01:36And following his degree he teamed up with some friends to learn how to build websites
01:41initially with the goal of promoting one of his films.
01:44Obviously he used those skills to create Reflow, which is basically designed to support communication
01:50between field-based workers and the head office.
01:53So quite useful.
01:55And this investment will support its expansion while also strengthening its presence in the
02:00UK and internationally.
02:02And it also represents Kester's fifth investment from its latest fund, which is the Kester
02:07Capital 3.
02:08Great.
02:09Well moving over to property, the world of property at the moment is gearing up for a
02:12return to the south of France.
02:14So the annual, I know, I wish we were going over there.
02:17It's the annual MIPIM Festival.
02:19So it's a global real estate forum and it attracts people from all over the world.
02:24So last year it had 20,000 delegates from 90 countries.
02:28And this year the event is set to welcome the mayors of major European capitals alongside
02:33international investors and sovereign wealth funds.
02:36So several UK cities have already said that they're going to be exhibiting at MIPIM and
02:41that includes Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool, Belfast.
02:46So quite a few already kind of said that they're going.
02:49MIPIM have also said due to the demand from British clients, they're going to set up a
02:53kind of unique UK hub and that's going to allow the UK sectors to show off their regeneration
03:01projects and attract international investment.
03:03Sounds fun.
03:04I'm sure we'll have some news coming out about that.
03:06That will definitely be covering.
03:08Well sticking on property, the legal and business services firm DWF has officially reopened
03:13its newly refurbished Liverpool office.
03:15So the business was actually founded in the city in the 70s and it's now transformed its
03:21site, which is on the fifth floor at 5 St Paul's Square.
03:25It's been designed to kind of support hybrid working, which is a new theme, isn't it?
03:30Yeah.
03:31So it's got traditional desks, but also activity based work areas and kind of breakout spaces,
03:36all the things that you'd expect to see in a really nice office nowadays.
03:40And the opening event was attended by the firm's co-founders, Jim Davis and Guy Wallace,
03:46alongside the group CEO, Sir Nigel Knowles.
03:50So if you want to read more about that story or any of the stories we've discussed today,
03:54you can do so on insidermedia.com.
03:56While you're there, feel free to subscribe to our newsletters, our magazines and check
04:00out all of the events we've got coming up.
04:02Thanks for watching.