Law firm Hill Dickinson which has its headquarters in Liverpool has opened a new office in Newcastle. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool commercial law firm Hill Dickinson is growing its geographical footprint by opening a new office in Newcastle.

This follows on from the success of the opening of its Leeds office in 2017. It is now looking to spread from Yorkshire into the North East. Ad it is keen to build upon its existing client base in the region.

Based in St Paul’s Square in Liverpool city centre, Hill Dickinson employs more than 850 people including 185 partners and legal directors. It also has offices in Manchester, London, Piraeus near Athens, Singapore, Monaco and Hong Kong.

In Newcastle the new office will be in Rotterdam House. This is located on the banks of the River Tyne, by the landmark Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It marks the firm’s sixth UK office and its 10th office location overall.

This move supports a period of sustained growth over the past five years, in particular for the firm’s health business group. Hill Dickinson’s Leeds office started with a team of three people and has since grown to 32. It expanded its original healthcare offering to include corporate and real estate teams.

Andrea Proudlock joins Hill Dickinson from DAC Beachcroft as a partner in the health team and head of office for Newcastle. She leads a newly recruited team that currently numbers seven but is set to grow significantly over the next 12 months.

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Also joining the team in Newcastle are Richard Hartis, senior associate in health real estate who joins from DAC Beachcroft, and Sophie Robertson, a commercial health associate from Hempsons.

Andrew Craggs, head of the firm’s health business group, said: “Opening an office in Newcastle was always the next step in our national growth strategy. It represents a natural extension of our offering to our clients.

“We already have a significant number of clients in and around Newcastle and the North East who we know will welcome having access to our legal teams locally. Naturally, we also see significant potential for further growth. We aim to establish a service offering in time that spans all three of our main business groups – health, business services and marine.”

Hill Dickinson’s health business group now numbers 240 health lawyers working across five UK offices. Originally based solely in the North West, the firm’s national strategy led to the opening of health sector offices in London in 2016 and Leeds in 2017.

Hill Dickinson chief executive Peter Jackson added: “I am very pleased to see our five-year strategic growth plan come to fruition with the opening of our sixth UK office. As with our Leeds office in 2017, we see Newcastle as a natural base from which to serve our growing North of England client base.”