Knights is planning to make three law firm acquisitions in the next two years after its listing on the AIM market, as the firm looks to ramp up its expansion plans after seeing revenues rise to £35m for 2017-18.

The firm is set to concentrate on national expansion, driven by funds raised from its planned initial public offering (IPO) later this month, which are expected to exceed £100m. Knights will also use the proceeds from the IPO to pay down the majority of its debt, with the remaining warchest used for law firm acquisitions.

CEO David Beech (pictured) told Legal Week: "Our whole strategy is to pursue acquisitions. We hope to do another three within the next 18 months to two years. We want to focus on the large provincial cities where none of the big firms have a presence and where we can become the number one player."

The firm is wholly focused on UK growth, with no plans to expand internationally, and it wants to hire at least 200 additional fee earners and increase its office count to at least nine by 2020. It is also targeting non-lawyer growth, with Beech particularly hoping to grow its tax and town-planning team with accountants and surveyors.

Knights is already based in Cheltenham, Chester, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Derby, Oxford and Wilmslow, and according to Beech, "anything outside of London is up for grabs". The firm's recently announced acquisition of Manchester's Turner Parkinson, which will hand it a seventh office, 45 fee earners and roughly £8.5m of revenue, will take place once Knights is admitted to AIM.

Immediately after the IPO, all of Knights' 430 staff will be able to buy shares in the business. From the autumn, the firm will introduce a 'save as you earn' scheme, allowing employees to buy shares at a fixed point in the future at an agreed price.

Beech takes a robustly dismissive view of the traditional partnership model, which he argues "creates massive conflict between lawyers' roles as owners and managers". Knights converted to an alternative business structure in 2012, and Beech says the IPO is a continuation of this non-traditionalist approach.

He added: "We had always thought a float might be the answer to pursue our vision to disrupt the market. To do that listing is important – it gives us the profile and verification that we needed."

Knights, which was one of the first UK law firms to secure external investment from a private equity house when it took on investment from ex-Dragon's Den entrepreneur James Caan's investment vehicle Hamilton Bradshaw in 2012, took in revenue of £34.9m during the 2017-18 financial year, with adjusted operating profit of £6.8m. Its top clients include Aldi, Paddy Power and Rolls-Royce.

The firm is the latest to join those making the move to list. It joins Gateley, which became the first UK practice to list on AIM in 2015, Gordon Dadds, Keystone Law and Rosenblatt in the decision.