Brcue Miller of Munro & Noble (left) with new colleagues Jim Miller and Alpin Stewart of George Street Law.
Two established Highland legal firms have merged to expand their law and estate agency services across the North.
Munro & Noble, headquartered in Church Street, Inverness, has finalised a deal with George Street Law in Dingwall, which will see the firms join forces under the Munro & Noble brand.
The move will increase the firm’s employees to in excess of 50 and see the launch of a new property shop at the Dingwall law practice when the merger finalises in April.
George Street Law’s team of five will join the Munro & Noble team and remain based at the local office.
Additional legal support will then be offered from the firm’s headquarters.
The city firm opened a second office in Aviemore last year following a significant increase in business in the region and currently hosts regular legal clinics in Thurso and Kinlochbervie.
Senior partner at Munro & Noble, Bruce Miller, said: “A significant number of our clients are based in the outlying areas of the Highlands and it was apparent that we had to start expanding our services outwith the city to better service our clients’ needs.
“George Street Law is a successful practice which operates with the same values we have instilled in our team and they were in a position of wishing to provide a wider service to clients.
“Although this was a strategic business decision for Munro & Noble, it was also an excellent fit for our future growth plans.
“It strengthens our partnership, increases our skilled team and expands our estate agency with the launch of a Dingwall property shop.”
Alpin Stewart and Jill Miller, who launched George Street Law together back in 2010, will remain partners at the firm following the merger, having worked with each other for the past 20 years.
Mr Stewart, who has vast professional experience in the area of crofting law, said the merger represents a superb opportunity going forward for both parties.
“We have seen a steady growth in the business over the years and a continual increase of clients across the Highlands and Islands and were hoping to further expand, therefore, the opportunity to merge the two businesses came at the right time for both firms,” he said.
“Working as part of the team at Munro & Noble will allow us to offer our clients better access to court work, commercial work and higher level estate agency and letting services, whilst still delivering the same range of legal services to our loyal client base. The merger brings extra depth to the business and introduces our clients to a larger team of legal service providers.”
The ground floor of the George Street Law office in Dingwall is now set to be renovated into an estate agency.
This will expand the service north of the city.
With offices in Aviemore and Dingwall, Munro & Noble is now able to offer a fuller range of services to clients outwith simply the city of Inverness itself.