Hill Dickinson has added a five-lawyer corporate team from Irwin Mitchell to set up shop in Birmingham, marking its second office launch in less than a month.  

The Birmingham base will be headed by partners Nick Dawson and Emma Callow, who focus on M&A work and private equity transactions and have joined the firm from Irwin Mitchell alongside legal director Matt Smith, a senior associate and an associate.  

News of the launch comes just a few weeks after the 950-lawyer firm opened its fifth international office in Limassol, Cyprus in association with a pair of former Ince & Co shipping partners.   

Meantime the Birmingham launch sees Hill Dickinson open its first base in the Midlands. The firm said the move was a logical step in its regional growth strategy, connecting its growing presence in Northern England – where it has offices in Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle alongside its Liverpool headquarters – with its two bases in London.  

Over the next few months the firm will add real estate and real estate litigation teams in Birmingham and noted that the launch also came as its national corporate and real estate teams worked across an increasing number of instructions from the region. 

CEO-elect and current head of business services, Craig Scott, commented: “The Midlands is home to a multi-billion-pound economy and is an important region to a number of our clients, so we have always remained open to the possibility of establishing a presence here provided that it is led by people who are present and respected at the heart of its business community.  

“That is certainly the case with Nick and Emma and I am delighted to welcome them to the firm. Our new Birmingham base will help us really understand and work with local market forces to better serve our clients.” 

Dawson brings more than 20 years’ experience advising on M&A deals and disposals and has expertise in acting for private equity houses, management teams and clients selling to private equity. He has joined Hill Dickinson after just over a decade at Irwin Mitchell, where he worked with clients including PwC, Nuffield Health and US private equity firm Acorn Growth Industries.  

Meantime Callow’s practice covers UK and international acquisitions, disposals and corporate restructurings, public company advisory work and private equity investments. She joined Irwin Mitchell in 2019 as a partner from Pinsent Masons and earlier in her career practised at Birmingham law firm Martineau Johnson.  

Hill Dickinson has also been investing in its regional presence in Northern England, hiring a trio of lawyers from Shoosmiths last year including partner Lemi McAuley to set up a restructuring practice in Leeds and securing Irwin Mitchell’s national head of employment, Glenn Hayes, to lead its employment team in the city.  

In January the firm relocated its Leeds office to 11 Wellington Place, one of the city’s newest developments, and last year signed a 10-year lease for 18,000 sq ft of premium office space in St Michael’s, Manchester.  

Hill Dickinson recorded its sixth consecutive year of revenue growth in FY23, when turnover hit £128.6m. The firm does not disclose profit per equity partner but said that in the same period profit growth had increased by more than 400%.  

Fee sharing law firm Spencer West also opened an office in Birmingham late last year to house a team it had hired from shuttered UK law firm Axiom Ince, as part of a wider private wealth push that also saw it acquire London boutique Hierons and secure a team from Selig + Partners.