Bath’s largest law firm Withy King and city of London practice Royds officially merged today, sealing the move with a new name – Royds Withy King.
The newly-combined firm employs around 450 people across offices in Bath, Oxford, Swindon, Marlborough and London, and is projected to generate revenues of around £33m in 2016-17.
The merger was announced in June but becomes official yesterday. Withy King's two offices in Bath – Northumberland Buildings, Queen Square, and Midland Bridge House, Midland Bridge – employ around 185 people between them. Bath remains the head office.
Withy King managing partner Graham Street takes up the same position at the newly merged Royds Withy King.
He said: “The merger between Royds and Withy King signals the start of an exciting new chapter which will see Royds Withy King establish itself as a sustainable UK Top 100 law firm.
“While it will be very much business as usual for many of our clients, there are others who will be looking forward to accessing the enhanced services and new opportunities which the merger will bring. Royds and Withy King have complementary strengths and share a similar client ethos, vision and culture, making them a really good fit.
“By retaining the names of both firms, our aim is to protect and build on the goodwill which Royds and Withy King have built up over many years, and through the combination, provide clients with an even better offering. This includes access to enhanced services, greater choice and a wider geographical reach.”
Former Royds managing partner Stewart Wilkinson, now a partner in the merged firm, said: “We believe the merger will bring considerable benefits to clients of both firms. We welcome joining forces with Withy King and look forward to sharing in the continued success of the merged firm Royds Withy King.”
Prior to the merger Withy King was a full-service law firm with long-established commercial, private client, personal injury and clinical negligence practices, while Royds was a single-office firm particularly well known for its retail property, commercial litigation, commercial, banking, employment, family and private client practices.
Royds also has a strong international client base and is a founding member of the international association Interleges.
Withy King has expanded rapidly over the past five years, largely as a result of organic growth but also through small, strategic mergers with Oxfordshire-based Whetter Duckworth Fowler in 2013 and Swindon’s Lemon & Co and Edward Pilling & Co in Oxford in 2014.
Royds’ office near St Paul’s Cathedral has become the merged firm’s London base and Withy King’s small London office in Mayfair has now closed.
The firm entered The Lawyer UK Top 100 for the first time last year and this year was ranked 45th in The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For.
The merger is the latest in a series of similar moves among the region’s law firms. In 2014 Bath law firm Mogers merged with Dyne Drewett, which had offices in Shepton Mallet and Sherborne, to form Mogers Drewett.
Pictured, from left: Partner Stewart Wilkinson and managing partner Graham Street of newly merged Royds Withy King
