Top-50 firm Blake Morgan announced today it is to merge with London-based commercial practice Piper Smith Watton.

The merger will come into effect on 1 August, just over a year after Blake Lapthorn merged with Cardiff-based Morgan Cole to create what it claimed to be ‘one of the leading firms in the south’. 

The newly expanded Blake Morgan will have an annual turnover of £78m, 130 partners and 1,000 staff members.

In London, the firm said it ‘will be a £15m-plus practice in its own right’ with an increased workforce of 150 staff, including 30 partners.

The London office will have a ‘significantly enhanced presence’ in the entrepreneurial private client and corporate market. Its real estate and litigation practice will double in size.

Blake Morgan managing partner Walter Cha (pictured) said: ‘This fulfils one of our objectives in London which we committed to in the Blake Morgan merger announcement in July.

‘Having a significant presence in London will enhance our position as a firm and provides a stronger platform for growth into the regions and sectors where our clients need us to be.’

Blake Morgan has offices in Cardiff, London, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading and Southampton.