Ward Hadaway

Ward Hadaway is an independent full-service law firm headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, with further offices in Leeds, Manchester, Teesside and Birmingham. It advises businesses, public bodies, third-sector organizations and private individuals, and its sector teams cover the built environment, healthcare, the public and third sector and private clients. The firm has 112 partners and 326 lawyers, according to its website, and says more than 50 of its partners are recommended by Chambers or the Legal 500.

Steven Petrie has been managing partner since April 2024, a full-time role the firm describes as its chief executive, working with a management board. Shortly before his first financial year began he set the firm a goal of growing turnover by more than 50% in five years and reaching £100m by 2034, according to the members’ report in its accounts.

A fifth year of revenue growth

Turnover rose 12% from £48.1m to £53.6m in the year to April 2025, according to the accounts filed at Companies House, a record for the firm and its fifth consecutive year of revenue growth. The average number of people employed, excluding members, rose from 375 to 413, and the LLP had 92 members.

The firm said revenue grew in every department, with housing, private client and commercial disputes particularly strong. Manchester grew revenue by 42% and Leeds also posted double-digit growth.

“Our ambition is to grow in a way that is sustainable and aligned with our values,” Petrie said when the results were announced in January 2026.

Two new regions in a year

Ward Hadaway opened a Birmingham office in 2025, its first outside the North, and announced plans for a move to larger premises in the city during 2026. In July 2025 it merged with The Endeavour Partnership, a Teesside commercial law firm with a 25-year history. The Endeavour team now trades as Ward Hadaway from Teesdale Business Park near Stockton-on-Tees, and its former managing partner, Lee Bramley, became executive partner of the Teesside office.

For Endeavour’s clients the merger added practice areas including succession planning, matrimonial, construction and tax. For the firm it made Teesside the fifth of its regional centers. The members’ report records the firm as seventh most highly recommended in the Legal Business LB100 client survey, which collated responses from nearly 80,000 law firm clients.