Change is in the air for a familiar Ross-on-Wye name, as Harrison Clark Rickerbys inc Shawcross opened a new office on February 29th and took on several new members of staff.

The firm, whose roots in Ross go back to 1820, is looking to the future in its new base at Overross House, Ross Park, where it can not only continue to offer all its traditional legal services but bring in new expertise for businesses and new specialists. The new office will give the business room to grow for the future.

Harriet Murray-Jones, who joined the firm last autumn as Head of Energy and Renewables and a commercial property partner, will be based at the new office. Harriet has experience of acting for developers, landowners and investors on all types of energy transactions and across all renewable technologies from on and offshore wind, biomass and AD hydro to solar PV.

She will be joined by another new addition to the team, Sophie Jardine, a family lawyer who will join as an associate solicitor. Sophie, who has worked extensively in Cardiff for a specialist family law practice, joins the firm on the day the new office opens.

The firm’s name also changes, to reflect the growth of the business – Harrison Clark Solicitors and Shawcross Solicitors merged in 2011, then the firm merged with Rickerbys in 2013, and the new title encompasses the whole firm.

Heath Thomas, head of the Wye Valley office, said: “This is an exciting time for us and gives us the chance to extend our reach. The new office will give us space for our growing teams and will enable us to attract and recruit other specialists. We want to be able to offer businesses and private clients a full range of services for the future, and the new office, with its easier disabled access and excellent parking right outside the door, will be convenient for many people.

“We want to be able to provide jobs for people who have grown up in this area and want to be able to do high-quality work close to their roots – we pride ourselves on offering the level of legal services you’d expect from a City firm right on clients’ doorsteps, and that benefits both them and us.”

The firm will retain its High St presence, so that clients who want to visit while they are in town will still be able to do so.

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has 380 staff and partners based at offices in the Wye Valley, Hereford, Worcester, Cheltenham, Birmingham and the Thames Valley, who provide a complete spectrum of legal services to both business and private clients, regionally and nationwide. The firm also has a number of highly successful teams specialising in individual market sectors, including health and social care, education, agricultural and rural affairs, hospitality and leisure, defence, security and the forces, and construction.