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The East Anglian market incorporates the extensive agricultural resources of Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire; the SME businesses of Ipswich, Norwich and Peterborough; and the global technology centre of Cambridge.

There is a mood of cautious optimism in East Anglia as indicators of a recovery in the commercial and property sectors emerge. The agricultural sector has remained consistently buoyant. The trend of dampened activity among technology companies around Cambridge, notably in the biotechnology sector, also shows signs of reversing.

Balancing private client work with commercial work is still a priority for the region’s larger law firms, and is likely to remain so even if the flow of property deals and M&A transactions gets larger. In every practice area, the value proposition of regional firms compared to London firms is being exploited to the full, with the likes of Taylor Vinters making a push into London with new offices. The firm, which now has five partners in London, has also built a presence in Singapore through a joint venture with a local firm, which is feeding work back to the Cambridge teams.

The biggest expansion story, however, remains the aggressive strategy of Birketts LLP, which has taken over popular Chelmsford firm Wollastons, giving it an even stronger regional presence across four offices. It continues to grow its presence in Cambridge, where it has moved to new, larger premises in order to accommodate more lawyers.

Nevertheless, in East Anglia that story could be overshadowed by the merger between Ashton Graham, where Mark Merriam has stepped down from the managing partner role to be replaced by head of private client Alan Brown, and Kester Cunningham John. The merger is scheduled for completion in October 2011 and is set to create a new firm, Ashton KCJ, with many synergies and a very strong presence across seven offices in the region, unless some rationalisation takes place.

Ipswich firm Prettys has opened a new office in Cambourne, near Cambridge, to tap into the technology and business community there. HC Solicitors has also reached out towards Cambridge with a new office in Huntingdon.

Moving into a new city successfully has some recent precedents. Hayes + Storr has added more partners to the thriving King’s Lynn office it opened three years ago, including Neale Grearson in the family team and Anissa Hallworth in employment.

In another noteworthy development, Gotelee & Goldsmith Solicitors has rebranded as Gotelee Solicitors, heralding the firm’s bold move to offer fixed fees across all practice areas.

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