Hammonds
No of UK Partners: 132
No of UK Assistant Solicitors: 266
www.hammonds.com
A Yorkshire firm by origin, Hammonds has had a presence in Manchester since 1993. Its relatively late arrival on the north-west scene has led some of its competitors to suggest that its Manchester office is not on the same level as Eversheds’, DLA Piper's or Addleshaws’, or, for that matter, as important to the firm as its Leeds or London offices.
The firm is quick to refute this charge. It points out that the Manchester office is home to 3 of its 3 sector heads based in the city. Further, that some of the firm’s top 10 client accounts, including the Co-op Group and BNFL, are run from the Manchester office and that the north-west is the base of more senior lawyers than Leeds.
Hammonds’ interests elsewhere have caused the criticism from rivals that they are not focused on the Manchester market. Buckley, however, insists that the network can only be an asset to the Manchester practice, which already handles a considerable degree of work sourced from outside the region. “We can leverage off the network,” Buckley says.
Part of the reason for Hammonds to go west was the experience it and other Yorkshire firms had gained working for local Plcs.
“Yorkshire Plcs kept more work with local firms than their equivalents in the north-west, and we saw an opportunity to persuade north-west companies to follow the Yorkshire approach,” says Hammonds’ Manchester head, Liam Buckley. “To a great extent that has been successful.”
Hammonds is another firm to adopt a sector-focused approach. Those who join from elsewhere will need to be able to display an entrepreneurial attitude and a full range of commercial skills as well as the requisite legal knowledge.
Now 200 strong in Manchester, and with a turnover of more than £20m, Hammonds seems to have reached critical mass. Indeed, the firm says it is not interested in growth for its own sake and also points out that two-thirds of its present partners are home-grown. Recent profit figures, however, have not made happy reading for the firm nationally, falling by 18% in the year to 2004. Nevertheless, the firm says that this partly reflects the investment it has made in its international network, which, unlike some of its obvious rivals, is fully financially integrated. It already claims be a ‘Top 20’ European law firm; its ambition is to be in the ‘top 10’.
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