Leeds Legal — the first and only city-based corporate marketing campaign of its kind to date — was established after the regional office of the Law Society and the Leeds Law Society asked its members how best to improve communications between the city’s top firms.
“There was little engagement between the city’s law firms and the Law Society at national or local level,” says Nigel McClea, head of the Leeds office of Pinsent Masons.
“While Leeds lawyers have a strong ethos of partnership working, the shortfall in communication meant we needed a channel to pull these things together. This triggered the creation of Leeds Legal to promote the collective talents we have in the city,” McClea added.
The initiative received backing from the Leeds Law Society; the Regional Office of the Law Society of England and Wales; and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the campaign’s main sponsor.
“It is always good to be the first with a new idea and we feel strongly at UKTI that this relationship is beneficial, continuing to encourage both law firms and their clients to increase their international business, while at the same time working with the campaign to attract more foreign investment into the Yorkshire region,” says Colin Russell, UKTI sector specialist for professional and business services in Yorkshire.
The main legal sponsors of the scheme — Lupton Fawcett, the Leeds office of DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons — along with commercial supporters and associate sponsors pledged commitment to the project.
Collectively, they provided the budget for a marketing campaign, which included a press office function, media relations activity, a website and the creation of a strong brand that underpins all the elements of the campaign. The funding also helped to fund the official launch of Leeds Legal at Westminster in April 2006, to promote the city’s expertise to an international audience.
“Leeds is a powerful gateway to business and the collective legal talents in Leeds are now exploiting the Leeds Legal brand to profile the city and expand into new territories. Once Leeds Legal succeeds in attracting new business, then the firms in the city can and do engage in healthy competition to divide up that business,” says McClea.
“This collective approach should attract better work to the city and also highly motivated lawyers who appreciate its dynamism and the opportunities Leeds provides,” explains Paul Ayre, managing partner at Leeds law firm Gordons. “Although the members of Leeds Legal compete against each other on a daily basis, we understand that we are all benefiting from the excellent work that the organisation carries out.”
So how does all this collaboration affect competition? “Law firms here are very competitive; competition here is fierce,” says Jeremy Shulman, chairman of Shulmans, a firm set up in 1981. “This is down to Leeds’ position as a strong legal centre and the increasing numbers of firms opening offices in the city. More law firms will inevitably mean more competition,” adds Shulman.
McClea agrees: “Leeds Legal certainly has not lessened competition — far from it. It does, however, lower barriers and encourage firms to talk more openly with each other, thereby uniting the profession and encouraging collaborative working for the greater good.”
The purpose of Leeds Legal was never to cannibalise the marketplace by taking business from each other, but to expand the market for Leeds lawyers. This is being achieved by working with Marketing Leeds (the city’s marketing body) and Leeds Financial Services Initiative to exploit overseas opportunities and raise its profile to win more business for Leeds in general.
To win more international business, Leeds Legal embarked on a programme of visits to communicate the city’s strength to both national and international audiences. In 2006, the campaign hosted a European launch in Brussels closely followed by a mission to Duesseldorf offering advice on facilitating trade and setting up a business in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
“As a result of these visits a contingent of German business representatives returned to Leeds in February after seeing tangible benefits in cross-border collaboration,” says Richard Marshall, director of Leeds-based Lupton Fawcett. Furthermore, Leeds welcomed a significant delegation from Hangzhou, China and the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce’s UK Taskforce. Also, in May, Leeds Legal hosted its largest delegation yet on a trip to Milan.
While international activity positioning Leeds on the world stage is core to the campaign, recruiting and retaining the best legal talent is also at the forefront. “Because of the sense of pride that goes with working and living in Leeds, we have no difficulty in recruiting high-calibre trainees and lawyers to the region,” says Guy Lamb, partner at DLA Piper.
“People want to work in Leeds — they do not see it as step down from London. Of course we are looking for talented people but we are also looking for that commitment, both to the firm and to the region and this is never a problem in Yorkshire. People often come to Leeds to work, expecting to stay for a few years, but actually never leave.”
The cost of living is significantly less than London, the beautiful Yorkshire Dales is less than 30 minutes away and it boasts three highly recognised law schools; The University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and BPP Law School.
So what has the campaign achieved? Since its inception the initiative has already made a noticeable impact by achieving some of its key aims. It has put Leeds Legal on the international radar. It has also achieved interest among other major cities that have eyed with envy the progress made by the Leeds legal fraternity and are considering a similar campaign model.
While it is difficult at this early stage to account for specific business wins to the campaign, recent research focusing on the depth and diversity of projects handled by the city’s law firms demonstrates that Leeds certainly more than holds its own compared with the rest of the UK and London in particular.
The city is at the beginning of a journey that has great potential to deliver significant business opportunities for all concerned — and which in the longer term is certain to generate business opportunities for Leeds and Yorkshire as a whole.
Alan Baker is chairman of Leeds Legal.
