This practice contains an “outstanding” team of lawyers based in Shropshire and Worcestershire to deal with contentious and non-contentious matters. For the latter, it enjoyed a busy year acting on the high-value disposal of farms and estates. Having attracted a number of landed estates, the firm is meeting a growing demand for advice on diversification schemes.

Specifically, it has assisted on several commercial lets converting farmyards into mini industrial estates. Providing “a London service for agricultural advice."  the tax department plays a prominent role in succession planning. The firm further possesses an intimate understanding on all levels following its involvement as the lead solicitors in the Antrobus case.

“Based in Worcestershire, Shropshire and the Black Country, this prominent firm offers a range of services
for businesses including commercial and litigation expertise, with notable specialisms in agriculture, tax and employment. Property work is handled for businesses and individuals and family law and trusts, wills and probate are dealt with.”

The firm has roots that go back nearly 200 years, and a history of successful development through merging with
like-minded practices. It was created in its current form in February 2005, through the merger of Morton Fisher with
Gwynnes, producing a firm that has ten offices across the region with a combined 28 partners and around 200 staff
in total. This dynamic practice, one of the largest in the region outside Birmingham, offers clients the highest level
of service and support.

The strength of the mfg partnership is the knowledge that as well as a local office providing a full range of legal
services, the firm also has specialists who can be called in from the other offices as needed.

Wynne Jones is the Principal of Harper Adams University College, a key UK provider of agricultural education based in Newport Shropshire. Having been inextricably linked to the agriculture sector his entire life, both personally and professionally; Professor Jones is one of the region’s key agricultural industry figures.

Amidst the continual challenges facing the rural community today, Professor Jones asserts that the only way forward in the ever-changing industry is for agricultural specialists to share knowledge and experience.

Professor Jones recently called upon the agricultural expertise at mfg to contribute towards his plea for a unified approach to agriculture and they have since formed a very good working relationship.

He comments: "At Harper Adams we pride ourselves on providing education on not merely traditional agricultural, subjects such as, say, crop growing or animal husbandry, but rather a scope of related areas. Our Rural Enterprise and Land Management Degree, for example, covers a range of topics that impact upon legal valuation and taxation issues as well as traditional resource management and planning issues.

"This is because we believe that agriculture shouldn’t be addressed as individual specialist sectors but rather one multi-dimensional rural picture.

"Globally, the farming industry is set to a multitude of changes over the next 30 years and this is why it is important that all the different agriculture strands pull together to make one coherent, and ultimately powerful whole.

"In order to achieve this, it is important for Harper Adams to not only have expertise within our own field but specialists from other areas which are closely related. This is why we decided to contact mfg solicitors. Having a vast experience in rural and agricultural affairs, along with some of the best agricultural solicitors in the country, this seemed like an obvious friendship to forge.

"Our contacts at mfg are able to provide us with excellent advice on all agricultural matters. They are able to put local rural problems and grapples into a legal context, helping to initiate change and promote solutions for our rural community.

He concludes: "All businesses in the rural community are tied together in a type of professional inter-practice – whether it’s a farm business, veterinary business or indeed a legal business, they all have to understand the issues that are important to the people they serve and mfg Solicitors appear to do that very well."

Lyreco
Duane Fullwood and the mfg team

Lyreco are giants in the world of office stationery and office supplies. The family-owned business has operations throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe. In the UK and Ireland, the company employs nearly 2,000 staff, with offices in Dublin, Airdrie, Scotland, and its Telford head office.

Duane Fullwood, Lyreco’s UK financial director, has worked with mfg during some exciting years of growth for both companies. He explains: “Our strong relationship goes back nearly 20 years, when the company now known as Lyreco was called Office International and mfg were Gwynnes Solicitors. 

“Lyreco’s business has grown during this time from an annual turnover of £12 million to over £300 million for 2007 and mfg have proved to be an extremely valuable and very capable ‘partner’ throughout these years.

“Such rapid growth has brought many challenges and mfg have always provided totally reliable, timely, accurate guidance and advice, whether we have faced property, personnel, litigious or commercial issues. 

“Everyone that I have dealt with at mfg has been professional, friendly, approachable and passionate about providing a high quality service.  What I value most is that mfg make a real effort to fully understand our business and this knowledge further enhances their ability to provide accurate and tailored advice – which makes a real difference!

“I very much look forward to working with mfg for many years to come and I know that we will continue to receive the same high quality service in the future and to enjoy the strong relationships that we have built up with all of our contacts there.”

Savills, one of the world’s leading international property advisors, refers many of its clients to mfg Solicitors LLP.

mfg has been providing legal advice to the clients of the Telford branch of Savills for more than seven years. As Director and Head of Estate Management, Clive Beer explains:

“I was first introduced to mfg through the international law association, Lawnet. Following initial meetings with the firm we decided to recommend their services to our clients due to the positive impression senior partner, Jim Quinn, made. When seeking to recommend legal advice of any kind Savills always looks for energy, lateral thinking and a friendly manner. We now liaise primarily with Jim, Alan Neal and Celia Tildesley who all offer these positive attributes and much more.”

During the seven years that the two firms have worked together the relationship has developed and Clive and his team have referred more and more clients to mfg Savills now refer most of their clients with legal requirements relating to commercial property matters to mfg.

Clive concludes: “Our contacts at mfg continue to provide our clients with excellent advice on all commercial property matters. mfg has also been instrumental in guiding us through a number of major projects such as contentious litigation issues, major tax planning cases, large scale disposals and estate strategy.

“I only ever refer on an individual basis and I am more than happy to refer the mfg partners and associates that we work with to our clients, contacts and associates.”