Acorn launches new legal recruitment division

(L-R) Jack Butler, Joe Southall, Eddie Butler, Dan Langford, and Brian Moore. Pics (C) Huw John, Cardiff.

One of the UK’s leading multi-specialist recruitment agencies Acorn has launched its new legal recruitment division.

The Welsh-headquartered agency, one of the top 1% of leading agencies in the UK launched its new business in the Principality Stadium in Cardiff at an event attended by nearly 100 lawyers and HR teams drawn from law firms based in Bristol, Gloucestershire, London, Oxford, and from across south and west Wales, who, over lunch enjoyed a question and answer session with renowned broadcasters and former international rugby union greats Eddie Butler and Brian Moore.

The occasion was a world-first, with Eddie Butler and Brian Moore, who is also a solicitor, never having previously performed together away from their infamous TV partnership.

Over recent months Acorn, which has previously been awarded the ‘best of the best’ of all UK agencies at the professional recruiter awards, has been consulting with law firms throughout Wales, as well as in London and the South West before ultimately launching its new, specialist legal recruitment service.

Acorn’s Group Marketing Director Dan Langford, who has been helping lead the new development said, “Acorn is already widely-known across the UK as a leading specialist recruiter; the establishment of this new legal unit is a natural development for us, and it builds on the success of our other specialist areas such as IT & digital, senior executive search, technical & engineering, Acorn Global and so on.

“Over the last few months we have held meetings with senior representatives of many leading law firms in various parts of England and Wales to help establish the scope of the legal recruitment market, the issues they face generally in growing their business and specifically in terms of recruitment and skills, and also how they feel their recruitment efforts might be better-supported.

“The feedback has been excellent not only in informing how best we target and develop our own legal recruitment services but also in terms of how warmly we were welcomed by the law firms when we mentioned we were setting this up. We can’t thank the lawyers and HR teams we have met enough for their insight, objectivity and support.”

The new division, which is based out of Acorn’s Head Office in South Wales, is already working on a number of assignments for leading law firms in London, Bristol, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea. Positions they are working on range from partners and senior solicitors to associates, newly-qualified and paralegals.

Key to the delivery of the new service are Acorn’s specialist legal recruiters Joe Southall and Jack Butler, who are directly engaged with HR teams and partners of a number of top law firms, whilst also liaising closely with candidates at all stages of their legal career looking for their next move.

Matt Southall, Acorn’s founder and Managing Director said, “We’re delighted with the progress being made; already there are many firms engaged with Acorn and an increasing number of law candidates being attracted to us due to the vacancies we’re working on and the reputation of the firms we’re working for.

“It’s an exciting time as our offering to employers and job-seekers continues to develop locally and nationally; and specifically through this new legal division, our support for the professional services sector in particular is further enhanced.”

Acorn operates from 39 branches across Wales, the South West, North West and South East of England, and has international offices in Australia and Ireland.

Acorn places up to 6,500 people into the workplace for around 800 different employers every week, UK-wide and internationally, and includes making some 1,200 permanent placements each year. The group also delivers training and apprenticeships for more than 1,000 individuals annually.