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Alice and Robyn discuss a merger for two prominent law firms, private equity backing for an Exeter software business, MIPIM and DWF's revamped Liverpool office.

Transcript

00:00A merger for two law firms, private equity backing for a technology company, and Mippin.

00:05We're discussing all of that on today's business briefing.

00:14Morning Robin.

00:15Morning Alice.

00:16So what have you seen in the news today?

00:18So a big story in the world of law today is that two Yorkshire and East Midlands law firms

00:22are set to merge and they're going to create a £40m turnover business that employs more

00:27than 500 people.

00:28Oh wow.

00:29Yeah, so the law firms that are merging are Wilkin Chapman and Rollitz and they're set

00:34to merge under the trading name of Wilkin Chapman Rollitz, so not much changing really

00:38from the 1st of April.

00:40So together the firm will have more than 500 people including 70 partners and a combined

00:45annual turnover of £40m.

00:47They're going to operate from six locations at Grimsby, Lincoln, Louth, Hull, York and

00:52Beverley.

00:53So yeah, exciting times in Yorkshire there.

00:55So the merged firm is expected to offer greater strength and depth to its clients across the

00:59commercial and public sectors.

01:00I wonder if that's a bit of a trend, because in the North East we recently had Ward Hadaway,

01:05they've got sites in Manchester and Leeds as well.

01:08They said that they're in merger talks with the Endeavour Partnership, so it seems like

01:12something that might be happening.

01:13A lot of consolidation in the law sector maybe.

01:15Well we've seen it in property as well with big mergers recently.

01:18Yeah, for sure.

01:19Well moving over to Exeter, software provider Reflow has secured investment from Kester

01:24Capital, which will enable it to accelerate organic growth and also support product development.

01:30So the business was established by Mike Saunders, who was actually a film student in the 90s

01:35in Surrey.

01:36And following his degree he teamed up with some friends to learn how to build websites

01:41initially with the goal of promoting one of his films.

01:44Obviously he used those skills to create Reflow, which is basically designed to support communication

01:50between field-based workers and the head office.

01:53So quite useful.

01:55And this investment will support its expansion while also strengthening its presence in the

02:00UK and internationally.

02:02And it also represents Kester's fifth investment from its latest fund, which is the Kester

02:07Capital 3.

02:08Great.

02:09Well moving over to property, the world of property at the moment is gearing up for a

02:12return to the south of France.

02:14So the annual, I know, I wish we were going over there.

02:17It's the annual MIPIM Festival.

02:19So it's a global real estate forum and it attracts people from all over the world.

02:24So last year it had 20,000 delegates from 90 countries.

02:28And this year the event is set to welcome the mayors of major European capitals alongside

02:33international investors and sovereign wealth funds.

02:36So several UK cities have already said that they're going to be exhibiting at MIPIM and

02:41that includes Manchester, Newcastle and Liverpool, Belfast.

02:46So quite a few already kind of said that they're going.

02:49MIPIM have also said due to the demand from British clients, they're going to set up a

02:53kind of unique UK hub and that's going to allow the UK sectors to show off their regeneration

03:01projects and attract international investment.

03:03Sounds fun.

03:04I'm sure we'll have some news coming out about that.

03:06That will definitely be covering.

03:08Well sticking on property, the legal and business services firm DWF has officially reopened

03:13its newly refurbished Liverpool office.

03:15So the business was actually founded in the city in the 70s and it's now transformed its

03:21site, which is on the fifth floor at 5 St Paul's Square.

03:25It's been designed to kind of support hybrid working, which is a new theme, isn't it?

03:30Yeah.

03:31So it's got traditional desks, but also activity based work areas and kind of breakout spaces,

03:36all the things that you'd expect to see in a really nice office nowadays.

03:40And the opening event was attended by the firm's co-founders, Jim Davis and Guy Wallace,

03:46alongside the group CEO, Sir Nigel Knowles.

03:50So if you want to read more about that story or any of the stories we've discussed today,

03:54you can do so on insidermedia.com.

03:56While you're there, feel free to subscribe to our newsletters, our magazines and check

04:00out all of the events we've got coming up.

04:02Thanks for watching.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 6th March 2025

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