Breaking up is hard to do
Just before Christmas, Legal Week reported that sprawling West Country giant Bevan Ashford had launched a strategic review, which was expected to lead to the demerger of the firm’s ‘city’ and ‘country’ groups of offices. Yet, come April, there has been no further news. Has there been a change of heart?
The firm, created by the 1987 merger of Bevan Hancock and Ashford Sparks & Harward, has always been a rather curious arrangement given that it is split between two separate profit centres – one comprising the firm’s Bristol, Birmingham and London (BBL) offices, the other its Exeter, Plymouth, London, Taunton and Tiverton (EPL) operations. Stories have abounded for years that the two sides of the firm were heading for divorce.
