Member Article

Husband and wife legal entrepreneurs acquire new practice

The husband-and-wife legal team behind one of North Yorkshire’s fastest-growing law firms have added to their portfolio with the acquisition of a North East practice.

Chris and Sarah Newton, who own Newtons Solicitors, have extended their law firm ownership by 50 per cent in buying Hodgson & Mortimer, which has offices in Darlington and Richmond.

Hodgson & Mortimer, which has been owned and run by brothers Nick and Richard Hodgson, was founded in 1995 and has grown to 15 staff and a £700,000 turnover.

Both Nick and Richard Hodgson will remain with the firm for a three-year ‘earn-out’ period when it will trade as a separate business until a new integration and growth strategy is put in place by a new management team.

Chris and Sarah Newton, who founded Newtons Solicitors Ltd in 2009, will run Hodgson & Mortimer as a separate entity alongside Newtons Solicitors, which expects fee income to reach £1.2m in this financial year.

Newtons founder and managing director, Chris Newton, says: “For the time being, we intend to run the two law firms separately, while allying systems and processes.

“There are tax and practical benefits from having two separately-regulated law firms but, in time, it would be great to have a single Newtons brand across the region.

“Hodgson & Mortimer is a good and profitable business with a loyal client base. We are giving Nick and Richard a good succession plan while they are giving us a solid foot hold from which to develop our practice in the north of our region. As a group, I can see the path to an annual £3m turnover but my medium-term aim is to reach £5m.”

Newtons Solicitors has 27 staff working out of offices in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and York.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .