Skelley: Looking to help firms through their growth phases
Law firm marketing network QualitySolicitors (QS) has joined forces with an alliance of accounting practices as part of a push to create a national professional services group.
QS and CharterGroup are now part of Legal and Professional Services (LPS), whose majority shareholder is Christine Stockdale, the wife of former Metamorph Law boss Tony Stockdale.
Mr Stockdale, an accountant by background, recently became a director of the company following the CharterGroup acquisition.
LPS used to be QS Legal Ltd, the once-infamous network’s holding company.
QS left the Metamorph Group in late 2022 via a management buy-out, just before the Solicitors Regulation Authority shut down four of the group’s law firms.
QS chief executive Richard Skelley told Legal Futures that membership fluctuated but was between 25 and 30 firms with multiple offices, giving the group a presence in around 120 areas.
CharterGroup has 18 members with 23 offices across the country and offers them a range of central support services, including technical support and practice management, as well as collaboration and special interest groups.
It is a member of Abacus Worldwide, a global association of accounting and law firms with over 200 members globally.
Mr Skelley, whose background is in banking, said: “We’re a similar operation and ultimately it’s looking at provision of services across both entities, cross-referrals and how we can jointly support our members’ clients.”
LPS was “ambitious” to develop the offerings of both entities, he added.
Marketing remains the core of the QS offering to member firms – much more so than CharterGroup – but it has developed recruitment and training offerings as well.
Members do not have to adopt the QS branding, as was required in the early days – although some still choose to do so – but Mr Skelley admitted that the perception of QS as a franchise lingered. There were no staff at the company dating back to the original regime, he said.
QS also now offers three tiers of membership –full membership for £2,000 a month, ‘QS Aspire’ – reduced services for a reduced fee, and a free membership that gives firms access to supplier discounts.
Mr Skelley described firms with billings of £2-3m, two or three offices and “a desire to grow” as QS’s “sweet spot”. He said: “We’re looking to help firms through their growth phases.”
QS does not have stakes in any member firms but Mr Skelley did not rule it out in future if it was right for all concerned, especially given the challenge of succession for many smaller practices.
Ian Smith, chief executive of LPS, said the addition of CharterGroup “means we can deliver our service proposition to a wider audience of like-minded independent law and accounting firms which face similar challenges and core requirements.”
Andrew Williamson, managing director of CharterGroup, added: “In today’s fast-changing world, extending the range of readily accessible business advisory services to help support our members and provide offerings beyond the traditional core of audit, accounting and tax can deliver significant value.
“We are delighted to be joining forces with QualitySolicitors and helping drive positive change in the sector.”
Remember Metamorph and the 16 firms that were shut down by the SRA on Tony Stockdale’s watch in 2022