Merger announcement – Wortley Byers merges with Tees

We are delighted to announce that Wortley Byers, based in Brentwood, will merge with Tees with effect from 1st January 2019.

In Brentwood, the merged business will be known as Tees incorporating Wortley Byers and will continue to operate from existing premises at Cathedral Place in Brentwood.

The merger takes Tees up to 30 partners, 325 staff and a turnover in excess of £22 million. From the 1st January, Tees will have 6 office locations – from Chelmsford and Brentwood in the east, through Bishop’s Stortford and Saffron Walden, to Royston in the west and north to Cambridge. From Brentwood, we will continue to provide private client, corporate and commercial property services whilst also offering a wider range of legal and financial services to our clients.

Wortley Byers can trace its history back over 50 years to Stamp Wortley, a well-established law firm which merged in 1967 with another firm to become Wortley Byers. Tees was established in 1913 in Bishop’s Stortford, by Herbert Stanley Tee, and has served the local community ever since.

Today, over a century later, Tees’ Group Managing Director, Ashton Hunt, says that this merger is a natural evolution for both firms, beneficial to each and especially to clients:

“The first thing to say is that I’m delighted to announce this merger. Many thousands of clients rely on our services. It’s only right that we should look to enhance the services we provide – in terms of the range we offer – and where we offer them. 

“Tees was already a significant regional law firm, widely recognised for the quality of our people and the quality of the service we provide. This view is backed up by independent publications such as Legal 500 which ranks many of our services in the top two tiers.

“When you look at the DNA of Wortley Byers it’s remarkably like ours. Quality people providing quality legal services to individuals and businesses – similarly recognised by Legal 500.”

Lucy Folley, managing partner at Wortley Byers, who will sit on the Tees board in the newly merged firm, is excited by the depth of expert knowledge that the merged business can now offer: 

“Both firms could legitimately say they were multi-disciplined, able to offer legal solutions on a wide range of legal matters. With this merger, not only has the range of services significantly increased but so too has the depth of resources and additional sector expertise. Plus of course we now serve a larger geographical area.

“We are in a very strong position to continue the growth – which both firms were experiencing – and better serve our clients. The most important thing is that Tees share our client-focussed approach in delivering work for clients in a straightforward manner, with good two-way communication and providing an excellent service at its heart.

Our merger unites two firms who have long respected each other’s successes and approach to client care. Together we will continue to provide friendly, expert legal services to local people and businesses.