Law firm Greenaway Scott has secured an alternative business structure (ABS) licence (Insider Media, 2017).

The licence was granted to the company by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and allows it to operate within a multi-disciplinary group structure, providing other professional services alongside its legal activity.

Greenaway Scott will continue to trade as a law firm, but the new structure also will enable it to raise private equity and external funding for its business activities going forward as the change to an ABS will allow it to take non-lawyers into its ownership structure.

Founder Nigel Greenaway will continue to act as chief executive, while Peter Wright will continue as chairman.

Greenaway Scott is understood to be the first predominantly commercial services law firm in Cardiff to adopt the structure.

The move follows a period of growth for the firm with advisory deals worth over £130m in the last twelve months.

Nigel Greenaway said “We are delighted to obtain SRA approval for the step change in the Greenaway Scott business structure. The ability to develop as an alternative business structure introduces a great deal of flexibility into our decision making.

“The altered structure will allow us to raise private equity, which is a key change for us as a firm, and will allow us to pursue expansion plans more aggressively and with greater geographical reach.

“However, the intention is for Greenaway Scott to continue to provide very specialist services into the mergers and acquisitions market, so we will still have a narrow focus on the type of work it undertakes. We are not about to become an accountancy firm.”

Greenaway Scott is headquartered in Cardiff with offices in Oxford, London and Swansea.