Ashfords has become the first major law firm in the West of England to be awarded an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licence in a move it said paved the way for it to introduce more non-legal business services.
The firm, which has offices in Bristol, London, Exeter, Taunton, Plymouth and Tiverton, already operates a number of complementary business services, including a patent and trade mark agency, a dedicated health and safety consultancy, and a recently launched bespoke contract management and data room service. 
Ashfords said the ABS licence would “further enshrine its future proofing strategy”, allowing it to significantly build on these services.
It already has a number of projects in the pipeline aimed “solely at ensuring the provision of the best legal and supporting business service to clients”, it said.
The ABS licence will also enable the firm to accept non-lawyers into its partnership and to consider possible external investment into the firm in the future – although this is not planned at present.
Ashfords said the move would also allow it to recruit and retain top talent and give its staff a more varied career path.
The licence was approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in 16 days – one of the quickest turnarounds recorded by the SRA.
Ashfords partner and head of its professional & financial risks team, Sam Palmer, said: “This is a great achievement for the firm and we are thrilled that our specialist regulatory team successfully obtained the ABS licence from start to finish in an exceptional 16 days.
“The accreditation of the ABS by our regulator reinforces the firm’s position as a national provider of both legal and professional services, and reflects our strong commitment to the region as the first top 100 law firm in the West Country to adopt an ABS.”
Head of HR at the firm, Ken Bryant, added: “We are committed to ensuring that individuals working at Ashfords have as much opportunity as possible to further their career.
“In this ever-changing environment, recruiting and retaining the best talent is fundamental to providing our clients with the best service. Being licensed as an ABS will enable us to provide our people with a much more varied and rewarding career path.”
SRA executive director Jane Malcom said: “We are continually reviewing and improving our processes to make sure that we can deal with applications as quickly as possible, which we know is important for the profession. The majority of applications are now dealt with inside a month.
“Ashfords provided comprehensive details of the firm’s structure and processes. That allowed us to work more quickly, completing authorisation in a very quick 16 days.”
ABSs were introduced in the Legal Services Act 2007. They allow non-lawyers to own and invest in law firms and for firms to operate a range of non-legal services.
