Prime Highlights:
- Ison Harrison opens its 24th office and plans to expand outside Yorkshire, reflecting strong business growth.
- The employee-owned firm continues to reward staff with substantial bonuses, fostering a positive workplace culture.
Key Facts:
- The firm became fully employee-owned in 2022 and now has a turnover of over £35m, up from £16m.
- Each branch offers local legal services like conveyancing, family law, and wills, while complex services are supported centrally from Leeds HQ.
Background:
Ison Harrison, one of Yorkshire’s fastest-growing law firms, is preparing to expand its footprint beyond the county after recently opening its 24th office in Middlesbrough. The move reflects the firm’s ongoing strategy of combining local presence with a broad range of legal services.
Jonathan Wearing, managing partner at Ison Harrison, said the firm’s success comes from a culture of employee ownership and community engagement. “The more offices we open, the better we get at it, and the better the economies of scale,” he said. Wearing added that new offices outside Yorkshire could follow the same approach that drove the firm’s local expansion, proposals from staff or other law firms seeking a partnership or exit.
Since becoming fully employee-owned in 2022, the firm’s turnover has grown from over £16m to more than £35m, and staff have benefited from annual bonuses, which started at £3,600 in the first year and increased to £4,000 in subsequent years. An announcement regarding the latest bonus is expected next week, with the amount set to surpass £4,000.
Despite a trend in the legal sector toward remote services, Ison Harrison emphasizes the importance of having a local office. Wearing said, “Clients still want local legal services, and having local offices makes it easier to hire staff, as not everyone wants to travel to Leeds every day.”
The firm uses a hub-and-spoke model, with accounts, HR, IT, and business support handled from the Leeds headquarters, while branch offices provide community-focused legal services. Wearing described it as “a big community made up of smaller communities,” showing how work moves between the branches and HQ.
With 400 staff, Ison Harrison mixes employee ownership with growth, creating a positive culture for both employees and local communities.
