One of the region's fastestgrowing legal firms has doubled in size overnight after acquiring a 25-year-old counterpart. Dale Smith, founder and director of Grey-Smith Legal, talks to us about what the news means for his company - and why it's particularly thrilling for him.
I’m delighted that Grey-Smith Legal (GSL), part of the SDDE Smith Group family of companies, has just bought Cochrane’s Law Firm, doubling our workforce and expanding our reach – all less than two years since we started out.
It’s great news for GSL, which has seen a stellar start since our inception less than two years ago when we launched our first office in Saltburn. The business has grown rapidly since opening its doors to clients in early 2021, and this is a proud moment in our journey so far.
And it’s also great news for Cochrane’s, which has built a fantastic reputation in the Stockton-on-Tees area over the last 25 years. Their outstanding customer service is set to complement our already award-winning GreySmith Legal team, and we’ll be taking on its 15 colleagues across offices in Billingham and Stockton to expand our geographical reach.
The acquisition made perfect sense to us; our two firms are well aligned on the services that we provide to clients, which include residential and commercial conveyancing, as well as private client work such as wills and probate, lasting powers of attorney and independent legal advice.
This move means we’ll now be able to offer legal services from Skelton, Spennymoor, Stockton and Billingham, and, thanks to this, the business is expecting to see revenue in the next financial year exceed £2.5 million. We also expect to continue to grow our colleague base from 25 to 40 across the next 12 months.
To ensure continuity, the Cochrane’s Law Firm brand will now sit proudly alongside Grey-Smith Legal, meaning clients, colleagues and the communities that the businesses serve can rest assured of the same high levels of service they have come to expect.
We’re all incredibly excited to be working with Jim Cochrane and his team, all of whom bring vast knowledge and experience that will greatly support the growth and development of these two brands moving forwards.
On a personal note, as a huge football fan I am particularly thrilled to be working with Jim, who, prior to his career in the law, was part of Jack Charlton’s Championship-winning Middlesbrough team, in 1974.
He followed that with a near decade-long year career in football, playing for another North East club, Darlington, until 1980, before turning his hand to a successful legal career.
Back to the law, and Jim said: “With the two firms being similar in size and make-up, it made sense to come together to create a larger firm able to provide a comprehensive legal service to the local communities, as well as further afield.
“My team and I are thoroughly looking forward to working with Grey-Smith and I’m positive that exciting times lie ahead thanks to the extra manpower, skills and investment that this acquisition leads to.”
At GSL, it has always been our ambition to be one of the North East’s leading law firms when it comes to conveyancing and private client work, along with our focus on providing exceptional client service.
As we continue to grow in the years ahead, we are keen to continue to attract, develop and retain the North East’s best talent as well as providing opportunities for anyone looking to get started in the legal profession.