Commercial law firm Capital Law has expanded its business by buying a controlling shareholding in Holistic Services Limited, the human resources consultancy group.
Swansea-based Holistic, which also has offices in Birmingham and Liverpool, specialises in training, consultancy and outsourced services through its distinctive operating divisions including occupational health, human resources and health and safety.
The business, founded eight years ago by its Managing Director, Henry Gilbert, has 40 consultants supporting over 200 UK-wide organisations, including blue chip clients like Ford and Bosch and public bodies including the City & County of Swansea.
Holistic Services delivers quality leadership and training programmes through its “Holistic Academy”, software development support through “Precision Software Development” and specialist training in first-aid, fire safety and food hygiene through “First Rate Training”.
Capital Law’s acquisition of the Holistic Group is a natural progression for this forward-thinking law firm which already operates a successful human resources consultancy, Capital HR, providing strategic human resources support to organisations across all sectors. Earlier this year, Capital Law extended its HR service by buying South Wales-based consultancy Blue Apple.
Capital Law is a well-known player in the local and national legal market, specialising in five core commercial law areas. The firm’s team of ten employment lawyers, lead by Viv Du-Feu and Elin Pinnell, acts throughout the UK for businesses from SME to multinational plcs. It is this team’s offering which will, through Holistic, be directly supplemented by all the human resources advice and support that organisations require.
Capital Law’s senior partner, Christopher Nott, said
“Clients are increasingly asking for more than just the expert legal advice we give them. Our team of consultants work hand-in-hand with the firm’s employment lawyers to provide a seamless service covering every aspect of the law, HR best practice and strategic business development.”
Disciplinary and Grievance investigations at work is one area in which Capital Law is often asked to combine the services of its employment lawyers and HR consultants. For instance, lawyers advise on the legal process of disciplining a member of staff and HR consultants will physically implement this by investigating the allegations or conducting the disciplinary hearing on the client’s behalf.
Christopher Nott said
“Core benefits for clients are in continuity of service and cost efficiency. Our consultants are all hugely experienced HR professionals and many of our lawyers have joined us from some of the largest law firms in the country but we charge regional rates. Our business model is quite simple in that respect.”
In fact, businesses battling the credit crunch have recently called on Capital Law’s consultants to help identify cost-saving measures, plug gaps in scaled-down HR departments and, in worst case scenarios, design and implement redundancy programmes.
Christopher Nott said
“Clients tell us that having consultants physically present in their workplace developing and helping to implement solutions can take a huge strain off individuals and teams and, ultimately, result in big savings for organisations.“
Capital Law, which has offices in Cardiff Bay and London, has set up a sophisticated communications system linking its offices with Holistic’s head office in Swansea. Both companies are effectively now operating from five cities throughout the UK.
Holistic’s management team remains intact, with Henry Gilbert leading the Company as Managing Director, supported by Business Development Director Steve Beynon and Holistic Academy Director John Richardson.
Henry Gilbert said
“We have previously worked with Capital Law and have long appreciated their professionalism and potential synergy with Holistic. We were therefore delighted when the opportunity of merging came along. We have a fabulous and dedicated team at Holistic - they have helped build the business into a UK leader. The time is now ripe, with Capital Law’s support and expertise, to develop the consultancy even further and explore new markets. We relish the opportunity to provide all our clients with Capital Law’s services.”
HW Corporate Finance advised the Holistic shareholders on the sale to Capital Law. Partner, Adrian Godfrey, said
“The owners of Holistic were looking at the best way to expand and develop their successful business but had limited resources to do this on their own. The merger with Capital Law is an excellent fit and enables the Holistic business to realise its potential through the combination of expertise and client base of both organisations.”
Bridge Mergers and Acquisitions introduced the deal and facilitated the transaction.
