DWS and Wilbraham form planning law joint venture

COAXIS: firms aim for national coverage but no merger

Two top planning practices have combined their skills and resources to create a service aimed at providing a single point of contact for clients undertaking major projects.

City giant Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS) and Leeds-based niche firm Wilbraham & Co launched CoAxis this week to raise DWS's reputation in the north of England and Wilbraham's in the south.

It will also enable the two firms to provide support and share information in large or complex cases.

Clients in the north will now be directed to Wilbraham, with DWS providing back-up, and vice versa in the south.

The two will bid jointly for large national clients.

Margaret Casely-Hayford, a planning and public law partner at DWS, said both firms had previously lost out on work, being pipped to the post by firms with a national presence.

'We created a brand - CoAxis - as a focus, so this is not about a merger,' she explained.

'We just thought that Wilbraham & Co is a good niche firm, and we have a very good planning department, so why not get together to provide major planning projects with our combined expertise, and achieve a national spread?'

Ms Casely-Hayford said fees would be paid on a case-by-case basis.

'This will not be a problem because as planning solicitors we are used to working with other teams of lawyers.'

David Hardy, in-house counsel at Wilbraham, said he hoped the new arrangement would help the firms to compete with number one planning firm, Berwin Leighton Paisner.

'Some clients feel we don't have the resources to cope with the biggest projects,' he explained.

'This will enable us to pitch a joint planning service with pooled resources.'

Paula Rohan