North-west law firms Halliwells and Cuff Roberts have agreed heads of terms for a merger that they claim will create the largest firm in the region with a turnover of more than £52 million.


The combined firm, which will operate under the Halliwells banner, will have 97 partners across offices in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Sheffield.



The merger - which is expected to be effective from 1 January 2005 - followed an approach by Liverpool-based Cuff Roberts.



David Rawlinson, chairman of Cuff Roberts' executive board and partner in its dispute resolution department, said: 'We have been handling a lot of big property development and company work and found that we were hitting a bit of a buffer. We felt that we needed to have a greater strength in depth.'



He added that the deal would give the firm greater access to specialist expertise in areas such as tax and pensions, as well as a base in Manchester for the first time where it has been handling an increasing amount of work.



Ian Austin, managing partner of Manchester-headquartered Halliwells, said: 'Where we see the significance in this is the fact that the media and business are looking at the north-west as a region and not just Manchester. There is a resurgence of business and prosperity in the Liverpool area that is enhancing the region as a whole.'



Halliwells also announced this week that it has taken a pre-letting of 120,000 sq ft of office space in the Spinningfields development in Manchester. Construction on the building is expected to start in spring 2005, with the firm relocating in September 2007.