Historic Bristol law firm Meade King acquired by Knights

Listed legal and professional services business Knights has agreed a deal to acquire a historic independent law firm in Bristol for an undisclosed sum. Meade King, on Welsh Back, serves the South West region and can trace its origins to 1790.

It is Knights’ first foray into Bristol and the new office will add 29 fee earners to the firm, which has some 1,500 staff across the country. The company has 23 UK sites including in Exeter and Cheltenham.

“It not only provides us with an entry point into Bristol but it gives us a platform from which to pursue further expansion in the city through both recruitment and additional acquisition opportunities,” said James Christacos, Knights’ client services director.

“This deal is a first step into Bristol, and we are focused on exploring larger acquisitions in the city, and recruiting high-quality talent in the city to enable us to build significant scale and expand across the region.”

Meade King is Knights’ 21st acquisition, and its 19th since its IPO in 2018. In that time, Knights has grown revenues from £35m to £125m.

“We are delighted to be entering a new market as we cement our position as the leading legal and professional service business outside London,” said James Sheridan, Knights’ Group M&A director. “We welcome our new colleagues and look forward to working with them to strengthen our foothold in Bristol.”

James Hawkins, managing partner of Meade King, said the firm was “thrilled” to be joining Knights following two years of “strong growth”.

He added: “As we enter the next phase of our growth as part of a larger group, we are excited by the benefits that Knights’ scale, deep central resource and unique business model will bring to our people and our clients.”

Robert Bigg set up the Bristol law firm that would later become Meade King in 1790. He was joined by his son, Lionel, in 1814 and went on to enter into partnership with Herbert Henry Meade-King, according to the company’s website.

By 1910, the growing firm was joined by other family members and became known as Meade-King, Cooke Wansey & John Miller, changing to Meade-King and Co two years later. The name remained unchanged until the late 1980s, when it became Meade King.