Legal franchising brand HighStreetLawyer.com has doubled in size by signing up five new firms. The venture, launched in September last year, aims to have around 100 members by the end of 2012, founder Gary Yantin told the Gazette.
Yantin, a commercial lawyer, said that the network is aimed at local high street firms with three to four partners and an ‘entrepreneurial outlook’. Firms pay a membership fee, giving them the right to use the brand, back office and marketing support, access to referrals, and member services through a ‘buying club’ offering special deals on products including searches, title insurance and software.
Recent sign-ups include Ciampa in Bedford, Kingswell Berney in Gosport, Leicester firm Halborg & Co and Brown & Co in Croydon, Yantin said. He declined to name the fifth firm.
Yantin described the scheme as a ‘brandchise’, saying: ‘It’s more about branding and licensing than a franchise.’ He likened it to the operating model of brands such as Interflora, Best Western Hotels and independent electrical supplier Euronics.
Michael Vaughan, senior partner at Kingswell Berney, said: ‘We are pleased to join HighStreetLawyer.com because that is exactly what we have been for 75 years for people and businesses of the southern counties.
‘By joining this national network, we can continue and extend our services to be the complete personal high street lawyer with confidence in the brand.’
Yantin said he was not daunted by recent announcements of new funding raised by larger rival QualitySolicitors, or by the Co-operative’s decision to offer family law services. He said: ‘We view our competition not as the Co-op, but as everyone providing legal services. It’s great that QualitySolicitors has raised money because it shows that people want to invest in the industry.
‘But these two ventures and the fact that others might have a deeper war chest doesn’t affect our ambitions or plans. It shows there’s room in the market for legal brands, independent firms and non-lawyer brands like the Co-op.’
This article first appeared in the Law Society Gazette and on the Gazette's website on Thursday 21 November
Other HighStreetLawyer news: HighStreetLawyer builds national network
For a profile of our MD Gary Yantin in City AM click here:http://www.cityam.com/business-features/legal-industry-shake-business-opportunity
