Member Article

Newton Solicitors plans growth following ABS status achievement

Major expansion plans have been unveiled by a fast-growing law firm, which has become one of the first in North Yorkshire to gain Alternative Business Structure (ABS) status with regulatory body the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

After growing from a ‘sole-trader’ standing start to £2m group turnover and 50 staff in four years, the Newtons Solicitors group, which has six offices in North Yorkshire and Durham, is to bring in non-lawyer professionals to chart its course to further business expansion.

ABS status for law firms allows non-lawyers to invest in legal practices as well as manage them.

Managing director, Chris Newton who founded the firm with his wife and fellow director, Sarah, in 2009, said: “Gaining an ABS license is about running our group as an efficient commercial enterprise as we recognise that the best business people and managers are not necessarily qualified solicitors.

“Now we have ABS in place, we plan to recruit a professional finance director and, in time, an experienced managing director.

He continued: “ABS removes the barriers which could hinder our growth and enables us to better compete with larger organisations which we see entering the legal market.

“An expansion into London and further into the North East is on our business agenda together with eight new senior solicitors on the immediate horizon.”

Newtons, which started as a virtual law firm run from Chris Newton’s home, opened its first office in Knaresborough in 2010 after achieving a £300,000 first year turnover.

The firm, which announced 75 per cent growth in 2012, has offices in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and York and operates across a broad spectrum of legal disciplines.

The wider group includes Hodgson & Mortimer Solicitors, which has offices in Darlington and Richmond.

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