Ison Harrison

Ison Harrison is a Leeds law firm serving individuals and businesses from 30 branches across Yorkshire and the North West. Its personal practice covers residential conveyancing, wills and probate, family law, personal injury, clinical negligence, crime and actions against the police. Its business teams handle company and commercial work, commercial property, employment, immigration and outsourced legal services.

The firm traces its roots to 1978, when Stephen Harrison founded S.C.Harrison & Co in Leeds. A merger with Ison Driver & Furness in Garforth in 1988 formed Ison Harrison. Jonathan Wearing joined in 2000 as a personal injury solicitor, became managing partner in 2007 and now leads the business as managing director.

Owned by its staff since 2022

Ison Harrison became an employee-owned business in January 2022. Companies House lists Northern Star Trustees, the employee ownership trustee, as holding more than 75% of the company, and the firm says it is now 100% employee-owned. Wearing and Dominic Mackenzie, two of the three former owners, remain directors. Five new directors joined the board at the conversion.

Growth by branch and acquisition

Turnover rose 39% from £24.4m to £33.8m in 2025, and the average number of employees grew from 326 to 390, according to the company’s accounts at Companies House. The strategic report records new offices in Brighouse, Skipton and Middlesbrough during the year. In April 2025 the firm bought Armstrong Luty, a Skipton personal injury practice founded in 1995, whose office now trades under the Ison Harrison name.

The expansion moved west in 2026. The firm opened a Manchester city-center base at No.1 Spinningfields in August, then on 18 September completed the acquisition of Dootsons, a firm founded in 1897 with offices in Leigh, Culcheth and Newton-le-Willows. All 27 of its fee earners and staff joined, and the firm described it as its first major acquisition outside Yorkshire.

“Our strategy remains unchanged: providing high-quality, local legal support right in the heart of local communities,” Wearing said when the deal was announced.

A local office in each town

The model keeps a high-street office in towns such as Skipton, Brighouse, Middlesbrough and Leigh, and the firm says it holds more than 13 Law Society accreditations, including Lexcel. Dootsons’ office teams stayed in place after the deal, and the firm put its annual turnover at £42m once the acquisition was complete.