HBJ Gateley strategy review aims to boost profile north of the border
Three-year plan targets post-merger profile push for HBJ Gateley following 2005's Anglo-Scottish merger Dickinson Dees makes up five to partnership
July 12, 2006 at 08:03 PM
2 minute read
HBJ Gateley Wareing has drawn up a three-year strategy plan as the newly-forged Anglo-Scots firm attempts to improve its post-merger profile, following admissions it has struggled to make the new set-up pay dividends.
The firm has agreed on a number of targets including full financial integration by the end of the calendar year after the tie-up between legacy Midlands practice Gateley Wareing and top 10 Scots outfit Henderson Boyd Jackson, which went live on 1 January.
The firm is trying to build its profile under its new name, especially in Scotland where the Gateley Wareing brand is new to clients.
The firm hopes to do this by cross-selling more to its existing clients as well as stepping up a marketing campaign and is aiming to compete with Scotland's larger firms.
The push comes after frank admissions by the firm that it has so far struggled to generate the level of work it had initially envisaged. The legacy firms had hoped the merger would generate more instructions from shared clients such as Bank of Scotland.
Joint senior partner Mike Ward said: "Yes, it has been a challenge. We sometimes feel perhaps that the message has not come across as well as we had hoped… but we are all encouraged. People are starting to come to us and are beginning to understand what we are all about."
In an effort to integrate the practices, the 60-partner firm, which this week unveiled its first annualised fee income of £31m, is to shed duplicated job titles that have arisen as a result of the merger.
The firm will also look to improve its training and IT facilities over the period.
The merger deal, which was announced last year after six months of talks, spawned a 200-lawyer regional practice with offices in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester and Nottingham.
The leadership of the firm is currently split into two six-strong management teams in England and Scotland, which report to an over-arching management board, headed up by Ward and joint senior partner Malcolm McPherson.
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