Consumer services takeover

Your ambition is to
climb from 122th in
The Lawyer’s top 200
to the top 50 in the next three years. In a nutshell, why and how do you plan to do this?

Our goal, for some years,
has been to become a leading national consumer law firm. While the top 50 is our target from a revenue point of view,
it’s important to note that achieving that kind of growth would put us among the five largest consumer law firms in the UK. We will achieve our revenue target through a combination of acquisition
and organic growth.

The majority of your work is consumer-facing, with only a minor arm in corporate work. Does this make the above challenge more daunting?

On the contrary; the UK
legal marketplace is hugely fragmented with over 10,000 practices around the country, the vast majority of which
are delivering services to consumers. The size of the consumer legal services market is estimated at between £10bn and £13bn, and there is further, hidden demand that can be unlocked by improving access to law by way of innovative service delivery methods.
The market size and consolidation pressures
that are at play provide huge scope for us to grow our market share considerably.

Do you plan to develop
the corporate arm?

SM Commercial has a strong presence in Yorkshire and is developing its national portfolio with referrals from across the Simpson Millar and Fairpoint businesses. It offers a range of services to individuals and SMEs, which can be of great benefit as a cross-selling opportunity, particularly
in areas such as family, conveyancing, and private client, where many of our customers are also small business owners. We will continue to develop the corporate team along with the other divisions of the business.

What kind of business infrastructure do you need in place to achieve your goals?

Two years on from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the industry remains fragmented and consumers find themselves
still paying relatively high
hourly rates. Conscious of this, Fairpoint and Simpson Millar are reshaping workflows, building a front-end process to help us ‘download’ key professional skillsets, and deploying them in a contact centre environment, with staff directed by business rules and exception reports – all of which helps lead customers towards the correct solution.
We have also implemented
an enlarged management structure for the business that will enable us to accommodate the rapid growth we will be seeing over the next two years.

What kind of financial support does a Plc ownership offer?

Simpson Millar was always investing in its own infrastructure and had the backing of lenders to support
its acquisition strategy.
The partnership with Fairpoint Plc has taken this to the next level, with a multi-million-pound credit facility and the potential to raise money
from shareholders if the
right opportunity comes up.

What needs to change in consumer-facing services?

People don’t really know what to expect from a law firm and often decide against appointing one because they have a perception that costs will not be fixed. If consumers can be shown the value of straightforward and easy-to-predict costs, legal services won’t be the last resort you choose when something has gone wrong. Approachability is also key to removing the fear or mystique around dealing with a lawyer and this is something that sets us apart as a firm.

What do consumers want?

Some want to do as much as
they can themselves and then
be given support when needed. For example, customers have realised that a small fee spent here or there can help them achieve their goals in life, such
as £99 spent drafting a school appeal application, or an immigration visa, a work permit, or a will. We’ve created a framework to provide more than 40 fixed-fee legal services and we’re confident that the model will be welcomed by customers.

How do you tackle being
priced out?

First, like any business,
we’re aware of what market rates are for all of the services we provide. Second, we are acutely aware of the costs involved in creating and distributing our own products. Having analysed every process in our own supply chain, we’ve been able to create a range that offers value and provides a margin for the business.

Say your goal is achieved
in 2017. What’s next?

Our ambition is not limited
by the 2017 aspirations
so we will continue to grow,
but it is important to ensure that we do so in a balanced fashion, making sure that further acquisitions strengthen the business, and at the same time ensuring that we have
the right balance between integration and further
growth. SJ

Peter Watson is managing partner at Simpson Millar