Late last month partners from the newly re-branded Hammonds met at a country house hotel to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the firm’s move from Bradford to Leeds – a much better address from which to do business.

It was in 1983 that AV Hammond & Co, a firm known for its litigation practice, opened an office in Leeds. In the same year Last Suddards, a property and town planning specialist, did the same thing. In 1988 the firms merged to become Hammond Suddards.