News

Harvey Ingram's Birmingham office marks second anniversary in style

Release date: 23/05/2008

The Birmingham office of Midlands' law firm Harvey Ingram marked its second anniversary in style with a celebratory dinner in the Hotel du Vin's austere surroundings.
More than 30 key clients from across the West Midlands met at the hotel's restaurant to celebrate the milestone with the firm's Birmingham team. Following a champagne reception and dinner, they were treated to a witty and well-observed current affairs update from guest speaker and political TV pundit Iain Dale.

Head of the Birmingham office and Harvey Ingram partner Rick Smyth said: "We have been delighted with our start in Birmingham over the past couple of years. This was a timely opportunity to thank many of our key clients and contacts, who have supported our team at Edmund House."

Rick Smyth and fellow partner Mat Harvey opened Harvey Ingram's first Birmingham office in Victoria Square, in April 2006. Eighteen months later they moved to the prestigious 6,000sq ft Edmund House site, off Colmore Row, right in the city's financial heartland. The firm's Birmingham team has expanded to more than 20 strong to include litigation, employment, commerce and technology. The Corporate Finance & Transactions team has completed more than 30 deals including the £17m sale of Go-Plant, a £21m management buy-out of Wrap Systems among a host of buy-outs, acquisitions and disposals for high-profile clients.

Partner Mat Harvey said: "With larger law firms increasingly moving to serve big national clients, we saw an opportunity to provide first-class legal services to the mid-market in Birmingham. We have aimed our work largely at owner-managed businesses and the financial institutions and we have been delighted with the response."

During the second year, the Birmingham team's client list has continued to grow with the recent addition of Icelandic banking giant Landisbanki, easyGroup, STEP, the Probation Service, Claimar Care Group Plc, Matrix Equity Partners and Probrand. Growth has accelerated thanks to the addition of dispute resolution specialist Barry Jervis, employment law specialist Nick Bone, along with Mike McMahon in corporate, while Marion Kinshuck and Kinnary Vyas, have significantly added to the Birmingham team's commerce and technology work.

Rick Smyth added: "It's always been our ambition to become a full-service Birmingham law firm within four years and we are well on target to achieve that. There will be a number of important announcements about our service offering from Edmund House in the near future."