The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire June 2014 Edition | Page 9

LEGAL NEWS

Heritage remembered with new SWINDON LAW FIRMS TO MERGE
name for south west law firm
Withy King and Lemon & Co have
announced they are to merge, forming one
of the largest law firms in Wiltshire.
Withy King, which has offices in Swindon
and Marlborough, and Lemon & Co, which
is based in Swindon, will join forces on
30 June 2014, strengthening the range
of services and expertise they provide to
businesses and private clients.
Graham Street, Managing Partner
at Withy King, said: “This is a great
opportunity for two like-minded firms to
strengthen and expand the range of services
they offer to clients in Wiltshire and further
afield. Lemon & Co has a well-established
private client practice renowned for its
family and residential property services and
a robust corporate services and commercial
property offering, which will complement
Withy King’s work in these areas. We
are very pleased to welcome the team at
Lemon & Co to our firm and look forward
to working closely together to achieve
our ambitions of providing an unbeatable
service to our clients and achieving our aims
of becoming a UK Top 100 law firm.”
Deirdre Moss, Managing Partner at
Lemon & Co, said: “We are delighted to be
merging with Withy King, a firm with an
outstanding reputation and with such a fine
progressive approach. The two firms will
complement each other in terms of services

The merger of two West Country law firms sees their heritage
remembered as the new name is unveiled. Mogers, which has offices
in Bath, and Dyne Drewett, which has offices in Dorset and Somerset,
revealed in February that they were to join forces from June 1.
On 28 May at the Royal Bath and West
Show in Shepton Mallet, the new look firm
revealed it will be called Mogers Drewett.
Steven Treharne, who will be Mogers
Drewett’s managing partner, said: “Both
companies can trace their histories back
to the 19th century and it is right that the
names should live on.
We are proud of our heritage yet as with
all fast growing businesses, we are focused
on the future and our clients are at the
heart of what we do. We believe at being
at their side when our advice and assistance
is needed.
This merger is an exciting development
that will allow us to increase our reach
within the communities we serve yet ensure
our clients, existing and future, receive the
personal touch we believe is so important.
We decided to announce our new name
at the Royal Bath and West Show as it is an
iconic West Country event which, like the
new company, also has its heritage steeped
in Bath and Somerset. We also sponsored

the Senior Open show-jumping, on the
Thursday of the show.
Both Mogers and Dyne Drewett offer
significant private client, agricultural,
corporate and business services and we have
both bucked the downturn with expansion
and recruitment.
The joining of our two firms will both
complement and strengthen our teams who
are all looking forward to the opportunities
the new company will bring.”
The new firm has offices in Bath,
Sherborne and Frome. It will also open a new
office in Wells this month relocating its team
from Shepton Mallet. See their new logo
below and visit www.md-solicitors.co.uk for
more information.

to our respective clients as well as providing
additional breadth and depth right across
the legal services we offer. Our founder
Harold Lemon started practising as a solicitor
in Swindon just about 100 years ago; we are
proud of our heritage, culture and values as
are Withy King; there is great synergy.”
Withy King, which was recently ranked in
the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies
to work for, employs 280 people across
a network of offices, including a team of
30 based in Swindon, and has a turnover
of £18.1m. Lemon & Co has a staff of 40,
including three full equity partners, and a
turnover of £2.4m.
Withy King will be moving from its
current offices in Old Town to join Lemon
& Co’s team based in Regent Circus. All
staff are currently involved in consultation
discussions to manage the integration of
the two firms. The newly merged firm will
initially be known in Swindon as Withy King,
incorporating Lemon & Co.
The value of the deal and other
commercially sensitive information have
not been disclosed.
Rapidly-expanding Withy King, which
has offices in Swindon, Marlborough, Bath,
Oxford, Abingdon, Thame and London,
acquired law firm Whetter Duckworth
Fowler based in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, in
December 2013.

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