Square One Law becomes the fastest growing commercial law firm in the country

The firm, which has a financial year ending on 30th April, announced turnover growth of 39% to £5.3m for the year ending in 2016.  This follows year-on-year growth of 36%, averaged over the past three years.

Newcastle-based Square One Law, which was a start-up business only five years ago and now has 15 partners, after recently appointing 6 new partners, has successfully established itself as one of the leading commercial firms within the North East.

An analysis of the recently published ‘Top 200’ legal firms in the UK revealed that, aside from mergers, no firm could match the rate of organic growth demonstrated by Square One Law.

The business is being developed by building long-term, trusted relationships with its clients and gaining a comprehensive understanding of their businesses to help them continue their success. In addition to supporting its clients’ organic and strategic growth, the firm has a strong track record in transactional activity.

In total during 2015/16 Square One Law completed:

• 22 corporate transactions of over £500,000, with a total value of £290m
• 18 transactions each with a value under £500,000

Recent examples of large projects Square One Law has been involved in, which have provided investment into the region, include:

• BlueWater Energy’s investment into Stockton-headquartered engineering and process industries business, pX Group;
• The sale of Peterlee-based GT Group to international technology leader Knorr Bremse Group, creating a global centre of excellence for the production of vehicle emissions systems;
• Supporting Gateshead-based speciality pharmaceutical company, Shield Therapeutics, in its AIM flotation and subsequent commercial operations such as distribution and trading arrangements.

Transactions completed by the Property team have also significantly increased. Highlights being the development of a new 68 bedroomed hotel and Beefeater restaurant on vacant land adjacent to, and in in conjunction with, the major restoration of the iconic, and Grade II listed, Spanish City Dome, Whitley Bay and the development and sale of a 107,000 square foot hi-tech office and research headquarters building at Ansty Park in Coventry to FANUC UK, a leading global manufacturer of automation and industrial robotic solutions.

During the last year, Square One Law was named Law Firm of the Year and Litigation Team of Year at the Northern Law Awards and was runner up at the Insider Dealmaker’s Awards, having won this award for the two previous years. Its clients include Able UK, Shepherd Offshore, Lanchester Wines, GrainCo, Utilitywise, Furniture Clinic, Highbridge and Crosbys.

Senior Partner, Ian Gilthorpe says “The growth we have achieved demonstrates the strong position we have carved out for the firm in the market and the level of resource we can offer to our clients.

“We are delighted to be the fastest growing commercial law firm in the country, which is testament to our talented and highly-ambitious team and the support we receive from our fantastic clients and business partners. It’s also particularly impressive as it has happened in such a short space of time. We set out to transform the legal support available to business and business people in the North East, and our service offering has rapidly gained traction with high quality regional, national and international clients.”

Chairman, Alan Fletcher says: “We are understandably keen to let the market know about the growth we have achieved and, of particular importance, the significant level of resource we can offer when compared to our competitors.

“In these uncertain economic times, our business continues to perform well and, at its half year, is slightly ahead of another ambitious budget.

“We are now making major investments in a new Microsoft Dynamix heart to our business as well as expanding our premises to support our future growth.

“Otherwise, we see this as a year of consolidation with the ongoing development of our people and a continued and fundamental focus on service delivery”