Local law firm acquired by growing international group
Long-established local law firm Gotelee Solicitors is being acquired by a fast-growing international law firm, Mezzle. Founded in 1880, Gotelee offers a full range of legal services to private and business clients and has offices in Ipswich, Hadleigh, Felixstowe, Framlingham and Woodbridge with around 90 employees. The firm will join Mezzle from 1st March. Mezzle, also a full-service law firm, was established in 2019 to meet the changing needs of both its clients and its lawyers. CEO and co-founder of Mezzle, Mel Kang and fellow business partner and COO, Raj Sumal, both previously lawyers at top law firms, saw an opportunity to create a progressive law firm that adopted modern working methods and practices for the benefit of lawyers and clients. Mezzle’s model caters both for lawyers who enjoy working within a traditional structure of a law firm and others who want greater flexibility and to work on a self-employed fee share basis. Mel Kang said: “We are very excited to have Gotelee Solicitors on board as part of the Mezzle group. Bringing our cutting-edge technology and tech-based solutions into Gotelee’s operations and investing in its staff and bringing in even more talent will see the firm grow and flourish.”
Andrew West, managing partner of Gotelee Solicitors, said: “The legal sector is a highly competitive market. With the investment and resources brought in by Mezzle, we are looking forward to growing and consolidating our position. By adopting Mezzle’s state of the art IT systems and back-office support, this will allow our lawyers to single-mindedly focus on meeting our clients’ needs.” The firm will continue to trade as Gotelee Solicitors.
Photo: Mel Kang (left) Mezzle CEO and Andrew West, managing partner, Gotelee Solicitors.
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Farmland price rises set to slow as supply increases
More farmland is set to come to the market in 2024 as farmers reassess their options as the basic payment scheme is phased out and the rate of growth in avarage prices is set to slow. But according to Savills, the farmland market in the East of England is expected to have a resilient year with an increase in supply and values remaining robust. The agent says the East will mirror the national picture and is forecasting that prime arable will rise by 3 per cent pa and Grade 3 arable land by 2.5 per cent pa over the next five years. Oliver Carr, associated director in Savills’ rural agency team, said:“We expect more farmland to come to the market this year as farmers reassess their business models and in some cases, where no succession plan is in place, decide to leave the industry because of the continued phasing out of BPS. Encouragingly, demand remains strong which should mean we have a resilient market. In particular, large farms of real scale continue to be attractive. Rollover buyers tend to be particularly interested in arable land and the maturing market for nature- based solutions will continue to make farmland an attractive asset for environmental investors. We are also expecting plenty of interest from farmers who are looking to expand their existing operations and want to take advantage of neighbouring farmland coming available for what might be the first time in several generations.” The value of prime arable land in the East of England sat at an average of £10,200 an acre at the end of 2023 – in line with the UK average and its highest since 2015.
Mid-sized firms looking for Budget help on costs, skills and taxes
Ahead of next week’s Spring Budget, East Anglia businesses are calling on the government to provide help on costs, skills and taxes, according to BDO’s bi-monthly Economic Engine survey. Nearly a third of regional businesses would like to see more support to reduce borrowing costs and flexibility on repayment of government loans, with more than one-fifth calling for better access to private capital and government grants. Half of East Anglia businesses still believe the government should offer greater support to resolve ongoing staff and skills shortages, including reforming the Apprenticeship Levy with greater focus on helping working parents. Peter Harrup, head of BDO in East Anglia, said: “In what could be the last Budget before a general election, the government has a real opportunity to place growth and the interest of businesses at the centre of its announcement. Time and again, East Anglia businesses have called on the government to act with greater purpose on key areas such as costs, access to capital, and skills. However, tax remains a real thorn in the side for regional businesses they want to see more government resources to help businesses in the mid-market, including within HMRC.”
In brief…
Resilient showing by partnership homes firm
Partnership homes provider Lovell has shown resilience against a softer housing market in East Anglia. Over the past year, it delivered 407 mixed-tenure homes across the region, with 65 per cent for the affordable market and secured a pipeline of 2,013 new homes to be built between now and 2027. Despite a slowdown in the sale of private homes on mixed-tenure sites, revenue across Lovell Partnerships rose by 20 per cent in the year to £838m, with an operating profit of £30.5m and a return on capital employed of 12 per cent. The secured order book at the year-end was £2.034bn, up three per cent on the previous year. As well as launching a number of significant projects, Lovell has partnered with key public sector partners such as the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and Suffolk County Council to deliver housing. Lovell regional managing director Simon Medler said: “This is an exciting year for us with new site launches across the region, including Harleston, Holt, Hunstanton and King’s Lynn.” Lovell’s parent company Morgan Sindall Group plc, increased group revenue increased by 14 per cent to over £4.1bn, while adjusted operating profit before tax was up 6 per cent to £144.6m.
Platform developer with Cambridge base to raise £6.7 million
Cambridge-based Tagomics, which is developing developer of a platform for disease insight and diagnosis, has launched a £6.7m funding round. The investment will accelerate Tagomics’ research and product development and follows a £1.6m pre-seed round led by IQ Capital and Start Codon and included grant funding from Innovate UK The investment was led by Calculus Capital. Since the investment Tagomics has become the first company to occupy the new Illumina Ventures’ Labs space in Cambridge which aims to accelerate value creation for genomics start-ups. Tagomics was launched in July 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Birmingham to build on research led by Dr. Robert Neely, the company’s chief scientific officer.
New practice lead at Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton UK has appointed Charlotte Anderson as its new practice lead for Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Chelmsford. She will be responsible for directing and growing a regional team of almost 650 people across the three offices. Charlotte Anderson (photo, right) joined the firm 2021 as an audit partner and has over 20 years of experience working with international and private equity-backed companies across multiple sectors. She said: “It’s a proud moment for me and a career milestone that reflects how much I have enjoyed becoming part of Grant Thornton’s dynamic but collaborative culture. Over the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of inspiring businesses and I’m excited about where we go next as a team.” James Brown and Tim Taylor, previous leaders, are moving to focus on other responsibilities within the firm’s UK regional business.
New occupier at Broadland Business Park
Healthcare specialist Veincentre is to relocate to Norwich’s Broadland Business Park. The move following four other recent lettings on the park; to NatWest Bank, Barratt David Wilson Homes, Mott MacDonald and Optima Health. Veincentre, whose Norwich clinic is currently in Surrey Street, is to take a 1,200 sq ft lease in the Lakeside 500 office building, with a new facility set to open in May. The company is the UK’s largest vein treatment provider with 33 clinics around the country and the move will enable it to expand its facilities for patients in Norfolk. Rebecca Light, operations director for Veincentre, said: “Moving to Broadland Business Park has benefits for our patients and staff alike. It provides us with a pleasant, business park environment with good facilities, handy transport links and convenient car parking for staff and patients.” Five staff will be employed at the clinic.
James Allen, partner at sole agents Roche Chartered Surveyors, said: “It is very heartening to be able to report exceptional interest in Broadland Business Park over recent months, with Veincentre being the latest new occupier to make the move to Broadland. Interest in the offices as well the industrial and logistics plots has been growing and remains strong across the whole of the Park.” Broadland Business Park is at the junction of the A47 and A1270 Broadland Northway and offers both Grade A offices and prime development land for industrial and logistics uses.
Programme to showcase venues around Cambridge launched
Meet Cambridge, the bureau for meetings and conferences in the city and surrounding area, has launched its 2024 programme of Opendoors events for organisers to take an exclusive look at venues in its portfolio. Meet Cambridge, funded by Cambridge colleges, is organising eight half-days, running from March to December. Each will take in three venues and be capped at 12 people. Venues selected include colleges, hotels and museums, all with flexible spaces for holding meetings, conferences, training days and dinners. Previous series of Opendoors have proved popular with event organisers across a range of sectors. In 2023, 52 people from 32 organisations attended the six sessions, visiting a total of 19 venues. Judith Sloane, head of Meet Cambridge, said: “Opendoors certainly seems to be a winning formula for showcasing some of the excellent facilities on offer in our venues – whether it’s a traditional or more contemporary setting. ….By working in partnership with our venues we are able to open the doors to new spaces that we hope will inspire our clients to make their conferences and meetings truly memorable.” For further details and to reserve a place go to www.meet-cambridge.com/about-us/news/post/join-us-for-opendoors-2024/
Photo: Event organisers on an Opendoors visit to Newnham College.
Cambridge company provides winning solution for Bulgarian lottery games
A Cambridge company has delivered a new high-speed variable data printing solution for Bulgaria’s largest producer of instant lottery games. Domino Printing is helping Demax to reduce the production time of lottery scratch cards from three weeks to two days with its high-resolution monochrome digital printing press, the K600i, together with a quick-drying water-based ink. As well as meeting both product line speed and security requirements, Domino’s solution has also provided additional printing capacity to support the lottery printer’s expansion outside Bulgaria. James Orford at Domino said: “In industries requiring high-speed digital printing, UV-curable inks may be chosen for their fast-drying properties – but this is not an option for printing on instant-win lottery cards, as UV inks can leave a slightly raised mark, which may reveal a prize underneath the scratch mark. Our newest, hybrid solvent, water-based ink, AQ97BK, was created to offer companies an alternative to UV printing – and proved to be an ideal solution for Demax’s printing needs.”
