Shoosmiths is launching its eleventh UK office in Leeds after picking up two employment lawyers from Yorkshire firm Gordons.
Employment partner Simon Robinson and solicitor Phil Crowe have been brought in to head up the new office, which will open in 2016. Both lawyers will join Shoosmiths as partners.
Robinson’s clients include food and manufacturing businesses, employment agencies and colleges. Before joining Gordons in 2013 he worked as an employment law partner at Ford & Warren. Crowe specialises in contentious and non-contentious employment law.
Shoosmiths CEO Claire Rowe said: “This exciting move into Leeds will enable us to access one of the largest legal markets in the UK outside of London, bringing both new people and clients to the firm.”
She added the firm has an “ambitious growth strategy” that will see it “take a greater share of the domestic market”.
“Although we already advise clients based in Yorkshire, this new office will enable us to develop more work from some of the largest national and international corporates in that region,” Rowe continued.
Rowe added the firm plans to create a “Northern hub” of legal expertise for its clients from its offices in Leeds and Manchester. As part of this strategy the firm is looking to recruit a number of corporate, real estate, and commercial specialists.
Shoosmiths’ Manchester office originally opened in 2008 and the team is set to move to a new office in Spinningfields later this year. Speaking to The Lawyer in April Shoosmiths’ Manchester head Vaqas Farooq said he expected the office to double its headcount in the next three years.
Last month Shoosmiths launched a London family team after hiring two partners from Howard Kennedy. Partners Juliette Peters and Jay Patel both specialise in high-net-worth work and have extensive experience of matrimonial law.
Shoosmiths’ turnover increased by 4 per cent during the 2015/16 financial year, from £102.7m to £107m. The firm also saw net profit grow by 4 per cent to £25.1m.
