A law firm with offices across the South of England has been sold out of administration, saving hundreds of jobs.
McMillan Williams Solicitors, which has branches in Bath, London, Kent, Surrey, Essex and Sussex, was sold to independent legal firm Taylor Rose TTKW by administrators from business advisory firm Quantuma.
All 420 McMillan Williams staff are being transferred as part of the acquisition, which will see the combined company become the UK’s fifth-largest residential conveyancer, Quantuma said.
McMillan Williams had a turnover of more than £30million for the financial year ending April 2019, but fell into administration in May after problems with cashflow and historic debt were "exacerbated" by coronavirus, according to joint administrators Sean Bucknall and Andy Hosking.
“Historic debt and limited headroom within existing facilities has meant that McMillan Williams were unable to secure additional working capital to weather the current economic climate,” said Mr Bucknall.
“The sale to Taylor Rose provides the best possible outcome for the firm and its creditors as well as protecting clients’ interests, preserving hundreds of jobs and creating a strong combined brand.”
Mr Bucknall said he was seeing many law firms in “serious financial difficulty” as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and warned the administration was likely to be "the first of many”.
Steven Cottee, banking and restructuring partner at professional services firm Pinsent Masons advised the administrators on the sale.
Pinsent Masons' professional practices partner Samantha Palmer, who provided advice on the regulatory aspects of the transaction, has been appointed solicitor manager to “ensure the continued protection of clients' interests”, the administrators said.
McMillan WIlliams was founded in 1983 and provides legal aid, private client, clinical negligence and personal injury claim services, and consumer and commercial property services.
Taylor Rose TTKW has 32 offices from Cumbria to Sussex. Its headquarters are in Peterborough and London.
