Gateley

Gateley made history in 2015 when it became the first full-service commercial law firm to float in the UK. It was established in 2006 when Birmingham’s Gateley Wareing and Edinburgh’s Henderson Boyd Jackson (HBJ) merged to form a firm specialising in commercial law, including shipping, transport, construction and insurance.

Post-merger, Gateley then integrated the Manchester office of defunct firm Halliwells in 2010 and converted to an ABS in 2013. The firm appointed its first non-lawyer equity partner in February 2014 with finance director Neil Smith becoming an LLP member and full equity partner.

The big flotation came in 2015, when it joined the AIM market, raising £30m. So far, the move appears to have been a success. Gateley’s revenue increased by 15 per cent from £67m to at least £77m in its second full year as a listed entity. The firm also reported that adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBITDA) stood at £14.7m for the 2016/17 financial year, up from £12.9m.

The firm has also opened in Reading since the IPO, giving it seven English offices in total (the others are in Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester and Nottingham), plus one overseas outpost in Dubai.

The Scottish part of the business, HBJ, was not included in the stock market flotation of Gateley, however, and in 2017 it split from the firm to be picked up by Addleshaw Goddard.