A well-known Lancashire law firm is moving some of its operations to a new flagship office after securing larger premises to create the firm’s new East Lancashire office.

Farleys Solicitors, which has had offices on Richmond Terrace in Blackburn since 1958, has signed a lease on a 18,679 sq ft office space on Shuttleworth Mead Business Park in Altham to facilitate the firm’s ambitious growth plans.

The new premises will see Farleys take over the whole of Communications House, formally used by haulage company Fagan and Whalley, with enough room for over 120 employees offering modern facilities including extensive meeting and event space.

As part of the relocation, colleagues from the firm’s Blackburn, Accrington, and Burnley offices will be moved to the new premises including experts in personal injury, family law, conveyancing, criminal defence, and private client. They will also be joined by some colleagues from the firm’s commercial department.

Ian Liddle, Managing Partner at Farleys commented,

“This is an exciting time for everyone associated with Farleys and these new premises are a big step in our firm’s growth plans.

“With a property that offers as much as Communications House does, we’ve taken the decision to move our teams from our high street offices in Blackburn, Accrington, and Burnley to improve their working environment and the services we’re able to provide for clients. We’ve been based in these towns for decades, but sadly those premises no longer give us the room to expand and continue to attract the best talent to join us so the time’s right to make this move.”

Ian added, 

“For our clients, the move will not affect the high levels of service we already offer but will allow us to provide an enhanced service through the investment in technology and cross-team collaboration, as well as providing exceptional meeting space for clients. For our colleagues, this new space will provide fantastic facilities for day-to-day work, in a convenient location, that offers a modern, comfortable and collaborative environment, in line with the firm’s values. 

“Despite the relocation, we remain steadfastly committed to Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley and our presence will continue to be felt in those towns.  I can assure these communities that we will still be on hand to support and advise on legal matters and will be continuing our support for the local communities and causes.

“The premises are in the process of being refurbished to meet our requirements before our teams relocate but we’re eagerly anticipating our move in date in Spring 2025.”

The investment comes as Farleys enters its third year as part of Lawfront, who have fully backed the move. Lawfront’s strategy is to partner with general legal services firms with a leading position in their region, a strong brand for client service, a dedication to their people, and management teams that have a history of delivering profitable growth.  

Lawfront backs these teams to achieve their ambitions through organic growth, further local “merge-in” acquisitions and by bringing investment and expertise in people, IT and AI, marketing, finance and compliance.  

Axel Koelsch, COO at legal services business Lawfront, said: “Being part of Lawfront gives regional leaders such as Farleys access to capital to rapidly achieve their ambitions. Investing into flagship offices in the regions creates great places to work where individuals benefit from working locally in a business of national scale. An attractive work environment is an important part of supporting ambitious people to provide excellent client service.” 

Michael Cavannagh from Trevor Dawson acted as the agent in the deal.