The High Street rush hour can have its advantages.

For Thackray Wood, it brought at least one client; sitting in her car in the morning jam alongside the firm's shopfront premises she thought they looked friendly and made an appointment.

Three months into a merger, the five-partner Beckenham firm is keen to keep its high street frontage, although it has spread into new offices behind.

It is the combination of two firms: Sharp Thackray and Wood & Sons, both local firms but totally different in character.Sharp Thackray had been on the shopfront site for ten years.

It was a general practice, started by Simon Thackray and later joined by a second partner, Gail Robinson, and two other full-time fee-earners.

That firm's marketing strategy, says managing partner Simon Thackray , has to a large extent been adopted by the merged firm.

'We allocated somebody senior -- ie me -- to deal with all new business enquiries,' he says.

'The primary objectives were, first, to make decisions on whether they were cases we wanted and more importantly, to make the client feel he was speaking to the organ grinder, not the monkey, and that we were taking him seriously.'This, says Mr Thackray, was fairly unusual practice, locally speaking, and successful.

The firm remained in profit throughout the recession, in spite of being heavily conveyancing-orientated.

Thackray Wood still is, with some 40% of its work coming from that market.

The other half of the merger was the three-partner Wood & Sons, which is the oldest firm in Beckenham, established in the 1930s and tracing its history back to the 19th century.

It was a traditional practice, with offices tucked away above a bank.

Its strengths were 'an extremely good reputation' and its wills, trusts and probate work.

'All the major banks' trust divisions would know Wood & Sons.' Its figurehead was Peter Castledine, now a partner in Thackray Wood, described by Mr Thackray as 'a personality and an extremely good lawyer, whose forte is company commercial matters.'Another arm of Sharp Thackray's marketing plan was that while wanting to preserve its good relations with third party introducers, typically estate agents, brokers and citizens advice bureaux, it was quite clear that it could not rely solely on referral work.'We were proved right in the mid to late 1980s when the independent estate agents sold out to chains.

When the chains took over, each office got its instructions from higher up and no longer had local discretion.

Our strategy was to have a visible, ground floor high street presence in order to compete on equal terms with the estate agent and building society and attract the client first.'Indeed, 'see us first' was Sharp Thackray's slogan, anticipating the Law Society's 'see a solicitor first' catchphrase.

And the firm picked up clients.

'We always closely monitor exactly where our work is coming from, and this has carried over into the merger,' Mr Thackray says.

'So we know when our advertising is effective, whether we are concentrating our efforts with the right estate agent and so on.

It isn't foolproof but we can tell where our efforts are best directed.' Also, he says, the firm proved it was still possible to get clients on the basis of service.

This is a recurring theme in Mr Thackray's conversation.

He has little time for solicitors who advertise cheap conveyancing deals, pointing out a number of small print exclusions in some firms' local paper advertising.The Law Society should prevent advertising for price, he suggests, and take a hard line on any solicitors not putting quotations in writing.

Thackray Wood's policy is always to quote in writing, even though the firm sometimes loses business to cheaper competitors.

'It breaks my heart the number of clients who don't come to us,' says Mr Thackray.

He believes it can only be because of cost, as new business is a key priority for Thackray Wood.

This begins with the firm's efficient receptionist, followed up by Mr Thackray's speedy return of call.

'I talk at length to the prospective client, I look for something to get communication going, and try to find something to differentiate us from the other ten solicitors he'll ring afterwards.' Clearly, Mr Thackray devoutly wishes that clients could be made to see that service and value for money are much more important than a low price.'Where the consumer marke t has failed the consumer is that all it talks about is price.

Nothing is said about how to measure professionalism, service and other added value.' He acknowledges, however, that it is the mood of the age.

Wood & Sons' marketing was lower profile than Sharp Thackray, largely relying on existing clients.

'It was very much a professional firm,' says Mr Thackray.

'We might have been seen as a bit too forward.

To some people's taste we might have been a bit too visible.' Thackray Wood has largely adopted Sharp Thackray's marketing style, albeit tempered to ensure that the more traditional Wood & Sons clients are not upset by what might appear to be a more aggressive marketing strategy.

'So far as I am aware,' says Mr Thackray, 'no one has been upset by it.'The decision to merge was founded on, first, a good personal relationship between Peter Castledine and Simon Thackray and, secondly, the fact that both were worried about the size of their respective firms.

'It was becoming clear that some mortgagees were restricting their instructions to larger firms and we felt a bit vulnerable,' Mr Thackray says.

'At the same time, Peter was very conscious that while his firm could serve existing clients extremely well it needed to raise its profile to build on what was already there.' And there was a sound practical reason too.

The Sharp Thackray premises were 'cram jam full'; the firm did not want to lose the prime site but equally could not risk high rent and rates without knowing it could depend on increasing its client base.The merged practice has retained all the 20 or so staff of the two component firms, bar one cashier.

The aim, says Mr Thackray, is 'certainly to expand.

We have room in the building, but we don't see ourselves expanding away and out of town.

We are still keen to be seen as Beckenham solicitors.

Enough local firms caught a cold by going on the branch network method.

If we have been successful in recent years, it has been because we could control, monitor and manage things there in front of us without splitting into three or four places at once.'Attempts to branch into new areas of law, however, have so far proved fruitless.

The firm has advertised, not for an extra body, but for someone with a following who could 'build a future with the firm', but no one suitable has turned up.

'It's disappointing that there isn't an ambitious solicitor out there with any sort of following who wants to work here.'Mr Thackray does not pretend that no problems exist.

His biggest concern is the future of legal aid.

A legal executive leaving to train as a solicitor is not to be replaced because, he says, 'We didn't want to recruit someone good who might have to be lost later down the line.' Thackery Wood has not applied for a franchise.

'We couldn't see what there was to be gained bearing in mind the number of man hours needed to fulfil the criteria,' says Mr Thackray.

'Both firms have had consultants in, but we knew our systems worked.

We are heavily computerised and we have high internal standards which have worked in the past and we see no reason to change them arbitrarily.'Mr Thackray is dismissive of what he sees as a bit of a fad for standards of one kind or another.

'There is too much contemplation of navels without thinking what our business is about,' he says.

'Is the client happy? If not, he will vote with his feet.

If we provide a shoddy service, the client won't come back and we'd go out of business.

We have undoubtedly got the continuing problem of the residential property slump.

We have been successful as individual firms ; as one, this has yet to be proven, although the results of the first couple of months suggest that we can hold and increase our market share.

'There is no doubt that times are hard and that we work longer hours for less money.

But I am optimistic that things will come full circle.' Those who are prepared to grit their teeth and slog at it, and stick by what they believe will ride out this period and move into a new age, which, says Mr Thackray, will hopefully be less cost-orientated.

One emerging trend will help.

Professionals are returning to their traditional bases.

'Estate agents will sell houses, not financial services, and that will apply to solicitors too.

The one-stop idea doesn't serve the client's interest, and serving the client's interest is what being a solicitor is about.'